Once again we shall be hearing the arguments about the value of league tables for exam results. At present, the “value-adders” nearly always point to the necessity of examining the social environment of school. However, it appears to me that if league tables are to be considered, there is at least one other factor to be taken into account.
The current point in the revolution (ie. turning in a circle) about intelligence testing means that intelligence tests are at present undervalued. Nevertheless, the vast majority of teachers recognise that pupils do vary in their capacity to understand depending on a relatively stable factor which may be defined as intelligence, and that intelligence is just as important in educational development as the all-round background experience which the pupil brings to school.
Thus it may be of interest to note that on re-examining the data which I acquired when teaching, which The TES used to spark the debate about reading standards (April 6), the average IQ of the schools for the seven-and-a-half year-olds varied considerably. For example, the average IQ of two socially similar schools about one mile apart, was 98 and 112 respectively.
DAVID THOMAS Otford, Kent
