Standardized Test, SRA Reading and Arithmetic Indices

By the 1960s, when this test was published, employers often gave job candidates standardized examinations. This set of one arithmetic and one reading test was designed particularly for adults with limited basic skills in these areas. According to the test booklets, they were developed by Science Research Associates (SRA), a subsidy of IBM.

This collection contains the Science Research Associates (SRA) Arithmetic Index, the SRA Reading Index, and the Reading and Arithmetic Indexes Preliminary Manual. The SRA Arithmetic Index contains fifty-four questions related to: addition and subtraction of whole numbers, multiplication and division of whole numbers, fractions, and decimals and percentages. The SRA Reading Index contains sixty questions related to: picture-word association, word decoding, phrase comprehension, sentence comprehension, and paragraph comprehension. Both tests contain the original carbon paper. The manual describes the main audience of the tests as being “adults and youths over 14” and “for use with applicants for entry-level jobs and special training programs, where the basic skills of the applicants are often too low to be reliably evaluated by typical selection tests.” The manual is a ten-page long booklet that includes: features of the Reading-Arithmetic Indexes, development and descriptive statistics, administering the tests, score, and interpretation and use.

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