A test-maker and a test-publisher
The name joins two careers: Otis wrote group tests, and Lennon ran the publishing house that sold them.7,6
Best known for the multiple-choice intelligence tests he developed for the US Army, which were cheaper and quicker to give than individually administered tests.7
A test editor for the World Book Company, which later became part of Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.7
Described as the first to use multiple-choice testing on a large scale.6
Head of the testing division at Harcourt Brace Jovanovich and chairman of its subsidiary, The Psychological Corporation.7
Later a senior vice-president; he retired in 1981 as associate to the chairman.7
Called the "marketing brains" behind the test's growth as a measure of ability for success in school.6
One source credits Otis with developing the Army Alpha and Beta as Terman's doctoral student in 1917.7 That claim is left unconfirmed here; the same source notes that many historians credit Frederick J. Kelly with inventing the multiple-choice format in 1914.7
1967, 1977 or 1979?
The date depends on which title you mean. The sources list three different publications.
A 1969 review in the Journal of Educational Measurement covered the 1967 Mental Ability Test.1
Why a 130 isn't quite a 130
The OLSAT's total score, the School Ability Index, has a mean of 100 and an SD of 16, not the 15 most IQ tests use.4 Gifted programmes typically set cut-offs of 130 to 132, aiming at the top 2–3% of test-takers.6 Slide the SAI to see its percentile and the matching number on an SD-15 scale.
Normal-curve arithmetic only. Real SAIs come from age-based norm tables, and this page doesn't reproduce them.
Seven levels today, A to G
Each student takes the one level for their grade. The youngest levels are read aloud and answered with pictures; the older ones are read independently.4
References
- [1]Otis-Lennon School Ability Test. Encyclopedia entry with references incl. Otis & Lennon (1967, 1977, 1979) and Grotelueschen (1969). Springer Nature Link.link.springer.com
- [2]OLSAT 8: Otis-Lennon School Ability Test, Eighth Edition. Pearson Assessments.pearsonassessments.com
- [3]Wikipedia contributors. Otis–Lennon School Ability Test (accessed 30 Sept 2026).en.wikipedia.org
- [4]OLSAT: Otis-Lennon School Ability Test. Cogn-IQ (2025, revised 2026).cogn-iq.org
- [5]Wikipedia contributors. Cognitive Abilities Test (accessed 30 Sept 2026).en.wikipedia.org
- [6]Otis-Lennon School Ability Test (OLSAT): all you need to know. Origins Tutoring (2024).originstutoring.com
- [7]History of the Otis-Lennon School Ability Test. K12 Academics.k12academics.com
Related historical tests
The WWI picture test for recruits who couldn't read English. One source credits Otis with the Army tests; that claim isn't confirmed here, but his group, multiple-choice approach runs straight through to the OLSAT.
Another school group test whose later editions dropped a broad word. Lorge-Thorndike lost "intelligence"; Otis-Lennon traded "mental ability" for "school ability".
The Lorge-Thorndike's successor, launched a year later. The CogAT and OLSAT still compete for the same gifted-screening role from kindergarten to grade 12.
Thurstone's classroom battery reported separate ability scores. The OLSAT folds verbal and nonverbal scores into a single School Ability Index.
The individually given children's IQ test. The OLSAT tests a whole class at once, which is why schools use it to screen before any one-to-one testing.
An earlier group intelligence test used for college admission. The OLSAT plays a similar gatekeeping role, but for gifted programmes in schools.