The Boston List
The Boston Minimum List consists of words selected from lists that had been sent in by the teachers of the different grades as the words which, in their opinion, should be taught in their respective classes. Two hundred and thirty-seven teachers sent in lists of approximately thirty-five words each. These words were then arranged in alphabetical order together with the number of teachers reporting each word. All words were then arranged in two lists, a minimum list composed of words which it was considered desirable for every child to know, and a supplementary list, including all the other words which had been reported. The words were at the same time assigned to the grades in which they were to be taught on the following basis:
1. Only those words that were reported by at least five teachers were placed in the minimum list.
2. Any given word was placed in the grade in which it was reported by the largest number of teachers.
3. If the spelling of any word depended on a particular rule or suggestion the word was placed in the grade in which such a rule or suggestion was given in the course of study then in force.
After a year’s work on the words they were assigned a value determined by the percentage of children who were able to spell the word correctly in a carefully controlled test. This provided a definite problem for the teacher because it pointed out the easy and the difficult words. A word with a high percentage of accuracy was considered an easy word. A word with a low percentage of accuracy was considered a difficult word.