Average Intelligence (i Q 90 To 110)
It is often said that the schools are made for the average child, but that
"the average child does not exist." He does exist, and in very large numbers.
About 60 per cent of all school children test between 90 and 110 I Q, and about
40 per cent between 95 and 105. That these children are average is attested by their
school records as well as by their I Q's. Our records show that, of more
than 200 children below 14 years of age a
d with I Q between 95 and 105,
not one was making much more nor much less than average school progress.
Four were two years retarded, but in each case this was due to late
start, illness, or irregular attendance. Children who test close to 90,
however, often fail to get along satisfactorily, while those testing
near 110 are occasionally able to win an extra promotion.
The children of this average group are seldom school problems, as far as
ability to learn is concerned. Nor are they as likely to cause trouble
in discipline as the dull and border-line cases. It is therefore hardly
necessary to give illustrative cases here.
The high school, however, does not fit their grade of intelligence as
well as the elementary and grammar schools. High schools probably enroll
a disproportionate number of pupils in the I Q range above 100. That is,
the average intelligence among high-school pupils is above the average
for the population in general. It is probably not far from 110. College
students are, of course, a still more selected group, perhaps coming
chiefly from the range above 115. The child whose school marks are
barely average in the elementary grades, when measured against children
in general, will ordinarily earn something less than average marks in
high school, and perhaps excessively poor marks in college.