Mary Jane Diehl, 85; Helped Revise SAT, Encouraged Women’s Education

Mary Jane Diehl, an educator who helped revise the SAT for a more diverse student body while working for the Educational Testing Service, has died. She was 85.

Diehl died Sunday of pneumonia at a convalescent hospital in South Pasadena.

A native of Denville, N.J., Diehl was an early feminist and member of Margaret Sanger’s Planned Parenthood organization.

After graduating from Montclair University in 1940, she taught elementary and high school courses and served as a school administrator. She earned her master’s degree in education at Montclair University in 1960 and a PhD from the graduate school of education at Rutgers in 1967. She wrote her doctoral thesis on the effectiveness of the Head Start program, and her method of analysis became a model for evaluation of early childhood education.

From 1960 to 1968, she worked at Educational Testing Service as a researcher and consultant in educational testing.

She taught science and medicine at Monmouth University from 1967 until her retirement in 1983. While at Monmouth, she was part of the team that created a program for the American Assn. of University Women to encourage young women to attend college.

She is survived by two sons, Digby Diehl of Pasadena and Michael Diehl of Atco, N.J., and three grandchildren. Memorial donations in her name may be made to the AAUW Educational Foundation in Washington, D.C.