Reading Report #2
Intelligent Intelligence Testing
By Etienne Benson
Monitor staff

Having read the above named article, I found three points that are worthy of emphasizing. These are as follows:
1. Intelligence tests unfairly categorize students by race, gender, class and culture.
2. Propagates the idea that people are born with an unchangeable endowment of intellectual potential that determines their success in life.
3. Practitioners want tests that can help them design interventions that will actually improve students’ learning.

My Reaction
As I read this article, my eyes were focused on the “one size fit all” mentality that exists in most of our Jamaican classrooms. The reality is that many of our students are left behind due to the advent of standardized intelligence testing which focuses on the product instead of the process. I believe standardized intelligence testing has its part to play, but in a holistic sense, it is ineffective and should be removed from the education system. One can reflect on the many students who are said to “fail or underperform” in the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) each year to clearly understand that this form of testing must give way to something that is more holistic and student friendly, which focuses on the many steps the student had to take to reach where he is at. Students learn differently and therefore perform at various levels. If a student who has a learning difficulty sits a standardized intelligence test such as GSAT, he will not be able to function effectively. Therefore, alternative tests such as portfolio assessment, structured oral questioning and the use of creative expression in any of its forms in an examination setting should be implemented in order to give students with learning challenges a fair chance to show what they are capable of accomplishing educationally in any of these non –