I think such tests can measure a few things pretty well, such as vocabulary, especially if we interpret the data only in aggregate (individual scores are close to meaningless). In practice, however, measurability bias (the tendency to overvalue those qualities that are most easily quantified for no reason other than their quantifiability) ensures that we will inevitably overinterpret such scores.
Well, isn't there evidence that high scores in areas such as math and reading comprehension are indicative of success in related areas? I know correlation isn't entirely concrete here, but if it's the best we have to work with, why not see what information we can get?
Actually, research has confounded most expectations. They once assumed that high verbal and math scores on SAT/ACT should be good predictors of success (grades, persistence) in college, which was reasonable as most college courses emphasize those sorts of intelligence. Large-scale studies have shown very weak correlation of scores with academic success, even in the freshman year -- so weak as to be utterly useless for prediction (and still worse for later years of college).
One reason for this, we might speculate, is that perhaps the central aspects of the experience of college -- what you really learn as a young person newly away from home, as opposed to the explicit curriculum -- has at least as much to do with interpersonal and emotional development, etc., as with the three Rs.
I might be inclined, in other words, to take this as an indirect argument for our hypothesis that education is fundamentally characterological.
I think such tests can measure a few things pretty well, such as vocabulary, especially if we interpret the data only in aggregate (individual scores are close to meaningless). In practice, however, measurability bias (the tendency to overvalue those qualities that are most easily quantified for no reason other than their quantifiability) ensures that we will inevitably overinterpret such scores.
ReplyDeleteWell, isn't there evidence that high scores in areas such as math and reading comprehension are indicative of success in related areas? I know correlation isn't entirely concrete here, but if it's the best we have to work with, why not see what information we can get?
ReplyDeleteActually, research has confounded most expectations. They once assumed that high verbal and math scores on SAT/ACT should be good predictors of success (grades, persistence) in college, which was reasonable as most college courses emphasize those sorts of intelligence. Large-scale studies have shown very weak correlation of scores with academic success, even in the freshman year -- so weak as to be utterly useless for prediction (and still worse for later years of college).
ReplyDeleteOne reason for this, we might speculate, is that perhaps the central aspects of the experience of college -- what you really learn as a young person newly away from home, as opposed to the explicit curriculum -- has at least as much to do with interpersonal and emotional development, etc., as with the three Rs.
I might be inclined, in other words, to take this as an indirect argument for our hypothesis that education is fundamentally characterological.