Intelligence Test and Gifted Requirements
The Gifted program exists to provide more academic opportunities for those who qualify as “gifted.” “’Gifted means performing or demonstrating the potential for performing at significantly higher levels of accomplishment in one or more academic fields due to intellectual ability, when compared to others of similar age, experience, and environment’” (Quoted in “Gifted”). In order to make it into the program the student must show higher intellectual ability than the average student at his or her age, but what determines that factor? The student must take a multidimensional test and score in the 98th percentile. However, the most weighted part of the test remains an average IQ test. Intelligence test scores should not be the primary qualification for admittance into the gifted program. They should not remain the primary qualification because it allows the minorities and the economically disadvantaged to be underrepresented, it proves insufficient when compared to other means of testing, and it fails to accurately reflect a student’s intelligence.
Despite the criticism presented here, many still believe that the average IQ test qualifies as enough for a student to gain admittance. Looking back on the Gifted Program’s history, passing the average IQ test with a score above 130 was the only qualification or requirement to gain admittance into the program. Many believed that this caused no harm; therefore, the IQ test remains sufficient today. Also, although there are other and more efficient ways of testing the students, the IQ test does provide useful information that should and does contribute to the decision of whether or not a student gains admittance. It shows a student’s le...
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... to them due to repairable faults in one test’s function. Because it causes minorities and economically challenged to miss the opportunity, because it fails where other means of testing reflect more, and because it does not accurately reflect a student’s intelligence, the intelligence test should not be the primary qualification to gain admittance into a gifted program.
Works Cited
“Gifted Education Policies for Kansas.” Davidson Institute 2011. Web. 28 October 2011.
“IQ Tests and Gifted Children.” Duke Talent Identification Program 2011. Web. 31 October 2011.
Kuttler, Ami Flam. “Gifted/IQ Evaluations.” Ami Flam Kuttler, Ph. D 2011. Web. 31 October 2011.
Machek, Greg. “The Role of Standardized Intelligence Measures in Testing for Giftedness.”
Indiana University 2007. Web. 20 October 2011
Sebelius, Nancy. Personal Interview. 17 November 2011.
New York: Cambridge University Press. Ryser, G. R., & McConnell, K. (2003). Scales for Identifying Gifted Students. Waco, TX: Prufrock Press.
Board of Education outlawed educational segregation, the Illinois School District had created a completely different gifted program for Hispanic students, separate from the White students’ gifted program. Ford found that in 2009 and 2001, the RDCI (The Relative Difference in Composition Index) researched and concluded “at least one half million African American and Hispanic students combined are not identified as gifted” (Ford 145). While African American Students are rising to be the majority race in public education, the percentage of African Americans even being recognized as gifted or academically accelerated, is not proportionally increasing (Ford). Society hold precedents with people who have superior intelligence over those who do not, but how can superiority even be concluded when all people are not given the opportunity to have an enriching education? African Americans are not able to increase their percentage of gifted students because African American students are not given the chance to be even recognized as worthy or capable of such achievements. As society advances further academically and leaves African Americans with an unquail education, the percentage of African Americans attending college and entering professional careers
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...gists have debated the explanation of intelligence for hundreds of years, with its discovery promising to unlock the secret to understanding why we do what we do. A social construct known as race, showing discrepancies of intelligence, further complicates the mystery. After thorough analysis of the available data, it is evident that IQ scores do not indicate a fundamental intellectual ability as such as phenomenon does not exist. Intelligence is a multifaceted concept, and IQ tests only assess one dimension of learning. I have demonstrated that racial differences are an ever-present element of our society, and must be considered when creating intelligence measurement tools due to the vast variation in perceptions of intelligence. Despite race being a social construct, group differences in IQ are the result of both genetic determinants, and environmental influences.
Almost state has gained federal funding from accumulating the test data from all of their schools (Ravitch 107). Data collected from multiple choice questions determines the intelligence of every student and their teachers. The test data is tracked throughout their lifetime in relation to their test scores, graduation dates and other statistics companies such as Amazon and Microsoft use to evaluate different groups (by age, ethnicity, etc) as a whole (Ravitch 107). Ravitch claims there are many problems with this, mainly, tests do not measure character, spirit, heart, soul, and potential (112). Not everyone is the same, and just because one may be weak in math or writing doesn’t mean they’re not smart, resourceful individuals with much to share with the world. For schools to be even seen with a slight amount more than just their test scores, they have to be in great standings with their students’ average test results. The government’s intense focus on test results hurts schools’ ability to be a well-rounded school immensely. In contrast to federal’s pinpoint focus on what students learn, educated consumers desire their kids to have a full, balanced, and rich curriculum (Ravitch 108). Schools need to be more than housing for test-takers. The Education Board may claim students’ proficiency in their testing makes them better people, prepares them for college, and ultimately, the workforce. What they are
High stakes testing does not accurately determine a student’s intelligence. In 1999, the National Academy of Sciences researched the appropriate and inappropriate uses of tests. They agreed that “no single test score can be considered a definitive measure of a student’s knowledge”(http://www.allianceforchildhood.net/news/histakes_test_position_statement.htm).
...osh, D.E., Dixon, F. Newton, J.H., & Youman, E. (2010). A Confirmatory Factor Analysis of The Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales, Fifth Edition, With A High-Achieving Sample. Psychology in Schools, 47(10), 1071-1083.
Unfortunately, I do not have much experience with intelligence tests modern or otherwise so my answer will come from course material. I came across this statement which I found interesting “there is no shared agreement as to what intelligence is and how it should be measured” (Drummond & Jones, 2010, p. 173). Intelligence testing carries with it so much controversy, it also places limits on where people believe their place is in society. There are multiple factors that can affect the testing on a given day: fatigue, stress, heredity, socioeconomic status the list could on and on. The results of this test can be damming painting inaccurate self-images of people. On one hand people will attempt to achieve heights unattainable, conversely
One of the most controversial things about gifted and talented education is the criterion educators use to identify the gifted and talented. In the past, a student’s intelligence, based on an I.Q. score, was considered the best way to determine whether or not they qualified as gifted. As a result of using this method of identification, many gifted and talented students are not discovered nor are they placed in the appropriate programs to develop their abilities. Talents in the arts or an excellent ability to write are not measured on an I.Q. test but are abilities that may certainly qualify a student as gifted or talented.
The identification and definition of giftedness have been controversial for many, many decades. Originally, IQ test scores were the only way of determining giftedness. An IQ test would be given and some number score, such as 12-, would be the point of cut-off (Cook, Elliott, Kratochwill, & Travers, 2000). More recently, intellectual giftedness is usually identified and defined by the specific school systems’ ideas and perspectives. There is no generally accepted definition of giftedness, but the Javits Gifted and Talented Education Act defines it as: