Grouping pupils by mental age is not a reliable means of ensuring proper educational treatment¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 1915 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Pupils of essentially the same mental age and I.Q. rating vary widely in linguistic, reading and arithmetical abilities, so grouping by mental age does not ensure proper educational treatment. → Renshaw 1915

Evidence¶

Renshaw 1915¶

Renshaw, S. (1915). The abilities of pupils in Detroit prevocational classes. The Journal of Educational Psychology. https://www.jstor.org/journal/jeduapsy

q2 · i? · associational · r2

The author's conclusion from the test distributions across the seven classes, where pupils of similar mental age and I.Q. showed wide variation in language, reading, and arithmetic scores. The article states that "the grouping of pupils of the same mental ages is not a reliable means of insuring proper educational treatment."

"Pupils of essentially the same mental age and I. Q. rating vary widely in linguistic, reading and arithmetical abilities. Hence the grouping of pupils of the same mental ages is not a reliable means of insuring proper educational treatment."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Sixty-three per cent of Detroit prevocational pupils have an I.Q. below .70 — related
• 80% of Detroit prevocational pupils lie below the normal fifth-grade level in arithmetical ability — related
• Relative to mental age, 68% of pupils do arithmetic work comparable to same-mental-age children, 59.8% in language, but only 13.5% in silent reading — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• 75% of Detroit prevocational pupils rate below the normal third-grade level in language completion — related
• Group averages are misleading when applied to individual pupils because of extensive overlapping in weight and height across grades — a broader claim this one bears on
• The Binet-Simon scale accurately graded fairly minute individual differences in mental ability within same-age groups, as validated against teacher and principal judgments — related
• Scattering on the Binet scales does not support the claim that unequal development is the specific characteristic of the feeble-minded; normal pupils scatter most and imbeciles least — related