I know that to some people, the IQ test score is what
matters. It lets you know "how smart you are". I think that testing
for intelligence is not a bad thing; I just think that when one looks only at
test scores, they can only see academic intelligence. Something is missing in
the academic testing. I think that if you are going to test a child then you
should test the child as a whole.
Testing should include intelligence/academic as well as
social skills and maybe even physical skills. In doing this, children would
test all over the board. All children are different and they have strengths and
weaknesses in different categories. Is it more important to be
"smart" without the ability to socialize with peers? I am not sure. If
a child who tests very high skips a grade or even jumps all the way to college
and misses the opportunity to grow with his peers, is it better for him to grow
with students older. I think that social is just as important as academic.
As I was doing research, I found it difficult to find how
children are assessed in schools. In developing countries, they have a problem
where there are millions of school age children that are not attending school. Teaching
standards are often low when children are attending school. As I continued to
look, I found more child assessments on how children are growing physically as
opposed to developmentally. A cause of this is high child malnutrition rates.
Reference
Christina,
ReplyDeleteI strongly agree with you that test scores only reveal the level of academic skills and fail to look at a child's development in other areas. I agree with you on the importance of not only paying attention to academic development but focusing on social-emotional and physical development as well.You might be familiar with the character of Sheldon on the Big Bang Theory. Sheldon is portrayed as an individual with high scientific intelligence but lacks the social skills to interact with others. As you said 'Is being smart really more important than anything else?'
Hi Christina, I agree with your thoughts on testing for IQ not being the most important and that all areas of the child should be looked at. It seems the focus for testing as with many things have moved off the targeted path. The purpose of testing would be better served if we used it as a tool to measure individual levels of growth and learning for each child to plan from for future areas to grow and learn in. The area of social-emotional is critical to all areas of learning and development and so important to having a full and rewarding life. Cindy Ferguson
ReplyDeleteHello Christina, as you stated "the whole child," is more important than just a part of the child. Why can't people treat all children as a whole? Is everyone so busy they don't take time to look at the whole child? Intelligence is not just through an IQ test, intelligence comes in many forms and fashions. Thanks for the eye opener!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. Children should be tested on a more than one developmental area. IQ testing is just one test that should not define a child's ability or knowledge level. A lot goes into a child performing well on any test. His or her teacher's performance, home environment, ability to retain info, and so on. One thing can be out of order thus affecting the child's test score. The test can't be 100% accurate.
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