Intelligence Tests in Schools Paper Example

Introduction

Some individuals hold that the idea of intelligence is a social construct created by fortunate individuals. Others maintain that it echoes a natural reality and is a significant factor in life. Nevertheless, how to appropriately measure this aptitude, and whether or not Intelligence Quotient tests ought to be carried out in schools continues being a debatable topic, since it has an impact on school going, children. Parents expect their young ones to get the best form of learning, and school administrators and learning institutions get too much pressure to ensure that learners get good scores in standardized tests. Hence, it makes sense that certain institutions test the pupils learning ability with the aim of improving their education. But then, there are disadvantages and advantages to IQ testing in schools that administrators, teachers, and parents ought to consider. This essay thus argues why intelligence tests should be used and why they should not be used in schools.

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Intelligence Tests Should Be Used in Schools

Intelligence tests, as part of a battery of psychological tests, could be highly helpful in diagnosing learning disorders. Similarly, outcomes from these tests could help in creating remedial classes for youngsters with learning difficulties (Hatt, 2012). Therefore, when effectively used by school psychologists, they undeniably have a significant role to play.

Every parent would want to hear that their children are recognized as "gifted," although it is rare to find a parent who would want to get a phone call that their child's intelligence level is below average. But then, as painful as that information could be, identifying learners with lower IQ levels at an early age could be of help to such learners. Learning institutions could give extra guidance to students who have a higher chance of lagging in their class work, hence, safeguarding their future. Another advantage to intelligence testing in elementary schools is that tests such as the Wechsler IV and Stanford Binet could identify gifted learners as early as kindergarten (Anderson & Bourke, 2013). Most highly intelligent students get bored with standard class work since they do not get challenged a lot. Therefore, identifying these group of individuals early, schools could provide them with more complicated tasks. That means that the school and parents could do better work of applying that information, and to be informed of when it is more appropriate and how to provide specific tutoring in case of a disability. Equally, being aware of the degree of academic intelligence permits the growth of knowledge which fans the flames of giftedness (Qualter et al., 2012).

IQ tests also play a role in reducing stereotyping. The appropriate use of IQ tests could dismiss the categorization of intellectual frailty for children born with partial mobility and without the skill of talking well or autism (Anderson & Bourke, 2013). Thus, applying the right type of intelligence test could eliminate the labeling of a learning infirmity for a learner from a marginalized background. In most cases, what appears as a learning disability is, in fact, a culturally different outlook of reality (Hatt, 2012).

Majority of the researchers argue that intelligence tests measure a vital part of the intelligence piece. Generally, these tests aim at helping instructors identify learners' aptitudes and improve the child's welfare in their academic development. IQ tests use sophisticated statistics; hence the approach of using intelligent testing in schools needs to be encouraged to enhance equality in gauging the intellectual abilities of learners from different backgrounds (Anderson & Bourke, 2013).

Intelligence Tests Should Not Be Used in Schools

On the other hand, several criticisms arise concerning the importance and validity of IQ tests, and what they measure precisely. Berliner and Glass (2014) hypothesized there being around seven diverse types of intelligence, but typically Intelligence Quotient tests only measure mathematical and verbal aptitudes. Some school instructors also assert that administering these tests too early are unreliable. And there is no hesitation that IQ fails to test an individual's desire to succeed, patience, and endurance. As a child grows up, these abilities are of more importance than sheer intelligence (Berliner & Glass, 2014).

Intelligence testing in schools naturally results in the tracking of student's progress. When institutions identify low and high IQ students, there is a high likely hood of putting the low IQ individuals in remedial classes while the high IQ ones in gifted classes. Schools form two or more diverse groups of learners who hardly intermingle, and this could lead to hostile environments in schools. Another argument against intelligence testing in schools is the labeling of high-IQ learners which might indeed affect their competition (Berliner & Glass, 2014). In the case of labeling a child as having low IQ, their self-esteem might be lowered as they perceive themselves as "stupid," and quickly give up on their life goals. Equally, if one is always told they are smart, they could see that nothing is hard to achieve. When tutors know their learners' abilities, they could as well have unintentional opinions, that might have an impact on their outlooks of their students and teaching experience (Heaven & Ciarrochi, 2012).

Applying IQ tests in schools is a myth. Research finds that these tests fail to evaluate all intellectual process (Berliner & Glass, 2014). Hence, IQ tests are not very all-inclusive, meaning that the measurements are not thorough and do not consider certain factors. Additionally, school administrators ought to understand that intelligence tests fail to interpret to aptitude inevitably.

Conclusion

On one side, IQ tests are helpful since they could place learners in higher learning levels and could prove them to be put in the appropriate groups for their knowledge and grammar level. On the other hand, they could lead to isolation; for instance, when a child is in a lower-level intelligence group, it can result in higher chances of being bullied. Although intelligence testing in schools could identify low functioning learners who require extra help with their school work, as well as those who need more challenging tasks, it is not fair to rate or categorize children on their overall intelligence.

Just because an individual could be weak in Math and excel in English (which lowers an IQ), they ought not to be punished. Schools are all about finding one's niche and what an intelligence test does, is to merely label individuals more and close opportunities which would ordinarily be open. Well, for sure a learner might be very bright but still, score horribly in tests. Nevertheless, perhaps there ought to be intelligence tests, though if the learner gets poor scores on it, then his or her classroom and class work performance should be judged to give the scholar a fair chance of ranking their intelligence level. Nevertheless, recent individually administered intelligence tests, are as practical as medical tests if ran and interpreted by professional psychologists.

References

Anderson, L. W., & Bourke, S. F. (2013). Assessing Affective Characteristics in The Schools. Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781410605443

Berliner, D. C., & Glass, G. V. (Eds.). (2014). 50 Myths and Lies That Threaten America's Public Schools: The Real Crisis in Education. Teachers College Press.

Hatt, B. (2012). Smartness as A Cultural Practice in Schools. American Educational Research Journal, 49(3), 438-460. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/23249233

Heaven, P. C., & Ciarrochi, J. (2012). When IQ Is Not Everything: Intelligence, Personality and Academic Performance at School. Personality and Individual Differences, 53(4), 518-522. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2012.04.024

Qualter, P., Gardner, K. J., Pope, D. J., Hutchinson, J. M., & Whiteley, H. E. (2012). Ability Emotional Intelligence, Trait Emotional Intelligence, And Academic Success in British Secondary Schools: A 5-Year Longitudinal Study. Learning and Individual Differences, 22(1), 83-91. doi: 10.1016/j.lindif.2011.11.007