IQ Tests Were Designed for Child Support, Not Social Ranking

In 1905 Alfred Binet and Théodore Simon introduced an intelligence scale aimed at pinpointing schoolchildren who required additional support, emphasizing that intelligence could be developed. Their diagnostic approach was later transformed by Lewis Terman into the Stanford-Binet test and further applied to mass military assessments during World War I, linking the tool to hereditarian and eugenic ideologies. Today, IQ scores are often displayed as badges of superiority, with organizations such as Mensa using them to admit the top two percent of test-takers, shifting the focus from assistance to hierarchy.

Nonetheless, cognitive testing can still provide valuable insights when used to identify students who need help, as demonstrated by a 2016 study that showed universal screening of second-graders increased representation of low-income, Black and Hispanic gifted learners. The piece contends that the original educational purpose has been eclipsed and calls for a renewed emphasis on using IQ assessments to support struggling children rather than to rank individuals.