"Recommended for ungraded class". The construction of normalcy in expert reports in 1920s New York City

Abstract: Informed by a material approach, this paper asks how and on which basis expert reports created by testing agencies define what is considered ‘normalcy’ and ‘retardation’. Since these reports were constructed and employed by actors involved in psychological research and educational administrations, their material aspects should also be taken into account, because understood as material actants they record and significantly shape the image of a ‘normal’ vs. a ‘retarded’ student by ascribing specific diagnoses and mental states, which found expression in the form of an assigned status. In a first step, the contribution situates the psychological knowledge in the framework of a rising tide of intelligence testing and psychometric studies, before discussing the materiality of psychological reports and framing them as small forms. As such, they encase and produce knowledge about the individuals they describe and record. The reports in question stem from an examination of ...

Object Details

• Location: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
• Extent: Online-Ressource
• Language: Englisch
• Notes: In: Moser, Vera [Hrsg.]; Garz, Jona Tomke [Hrsg.]: Das (A)normale in der Pädagogik. Wissenspraktiken – Wissensordnungen – Wissensregime. Bad Heilbrunn : Verlag Julius Klinkhardt 2022, S. 171-182. ISBN 978-3-7815-5971-4; 978-3-7815-2531-3

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Erziehung, Schul- und Bildungswesen

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (where): Frankfurt
• (who): DIPF Frankfurt am Main, NP-Ablieferer
• (when): 2022
• Creator: Isensee, Fanny

Further information

• DOI: 10.25656/01:25674
• URN: urn:nbn:de:0111-pedocs-256741
• Rights: Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
• Last update: 14.08.2025, 10:46 AM CEST