Seeing Beyond the Distraction of IQ

In our work with families and schools, we’ve noticed that people sometimes confuse encouraging the development of children’s real-world intelligence—that is, raising smarter kids—and raising their IQs. It’s a distinction worth noting. Here’s why.

Intelligence is so much more than a score on a test. Secrets for raising smarter kids include keeping the emphasis on thinking, learning, challenging, creating, finding balance, playing, working hard, collaborating, persevering, and becoming wise. Boosting a child’s real-world intelligence may boost his intelligence test score, but not necessarily. And vice versa.

Are Some Kids Born Smart? Or Do They Become Smart?

Are some kids born smart? Or do they become smart? Is there anything parents and teachers can do to help kids become more intelligent or use their intelligence more productively?

Carol Dweck’s work on mindsets is part of a transformation in progress concerning how people understand giftedness, and how gifted education is delivered. In this article published in the Growth Mindset Blog, we think about some of the myths that are being challenged by recent findings on mindsets and intelligence:

http://community.mindsetworks.com/blog-page/home-blogs/entry/mindsets-and-gifted-education-transformation-in-progress#.UL_PV4ExB5s.facebook

Group-Administered Intelligence Tests and Gifted Identification

Many school districts are using group IQ tests (aka, intelligence tests, or tests of cognitive ability) to identify children’s need for gifted education. These tests have some advantages, and also some inherent problems.

Individually-administered IQ tests—tests where a psychologist sits with one child for 90 minutes to 2 hours, and asks a series of standardized questions that vary depending on the child’s responses—are by far the most reliable indicators of kids’ learning needs. They have many flaws (which we discuss elsewhere—see links below) but they provide the most useful and targeted information about a child’s learning strengths and weaknesses.