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.