Remembering Elizabeth Hagen
Elizabeth Hagen, an authority on educational and psychological measurement and evaluation who taught at Teachers College from 1950 through 1981, passed away in February.
A former high school science teacher, Hagen was the Edward Lee Thorndike Professor in Psychology and Education, a ranking she retained as Professor Emeritus. She also served as Dean of Academic Affairs from 1972 to 1976 and Director of the Division of Health Services, Sciences and Education. She was program coordinator of the College’s Nurse Scientist Training Program.
In their classic text, Measurement and Evaluation in Psychology and Education, Hagen and her co-author Robert L. Thorndike, discussed both the usefulness and limitations of all types of tests then commonly employed in education, counseling and employment. They cautioned against over-reliance on testing, believing it was an important component in educational decision-making, but only one of many.
In other work, Hagen studied topics ranging from the leadership behaviors of head nurses in medical-surgical and psychiatric wards to the attitudes and traits of male teachers. She also assisted school systems on Long Island and in New Jersey. In retirement, she co-authored the fourth edition of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale and forms 4, 5 and 6 of the Cognitive Abilities Test.
Hagen was elected a fellow of the American Psychological Association in 1970 and to the National Academy of Education in 1979.
Published Monday, Jul. 14, 2008
