IQ tests were first developed in order to identify children who needed special e

Question

IQ tests were first developed in order to identify children who needed special education. Today, the use of IQ tests in making decisions to place children on different “academic ability tracks” is hotly debated. Using concepts and research evidence presented in this section, describe the pros and cons of IQ testing and ability tracking in schools.
IQ tests were first developed in order to identify children who needed special education. Today, the use of IQ tests in making decisions to place children on different “academic ability tracks” is hotly debated. Using concepts and research evidence presented in this section, describe the pros and cons of IQ testing and ability tracking in schools.
IQ tests were first developed in order to identify children who needed special education. Today, the use of IQ tests in making decisions to place children on different “academic ability tracks” is hotly debated. Using concepts and research evidence presented in this section, describe the pros and cons of IQ testing and ability tracking in schools.

Explanation / Answer

The pros of IQ testing:

1) Helps the school authorities get an idea about the child's intellectual potential.

2) Helps the school authorities develop alternative ways of teaching incase the child has issues in performance and education.

3) It helps the students discover and understand their areas of strength and potential and hence choose subjects accordingly.

4) Helps the school authorities find out the 'gifted' students so that a different curriculum could be made for them.

5) Helps the special educators find the level of intelligence of the children with special needs so that their individual education programme could be devised accordingly.

Cons of IQ testing:

1) The test may not be culturally fair for students who are not familiar with English language. Therefore, the results (if low) of the test may not be acceptable as the child's level of intelligence. It may be purely due to the child's inability to interpret the questions.

2) IQ testing leads to labeling of children. Having different curriculum based on their levels of intelligence can have negative impacts on the minds of children who understand that they are studying comparatively easier topics because of their intelligence. This may hinder their growth and they may not be motivated to improve.

3) Most IQ tests do not measure a child's intelligence in physical activities and it is a major set back while measuring student abilities in schools.

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