Researchers have tried for a long time for find indicators of infants’ later intelligence So far, they have not found anything useful to predict intelligence at later ages Example: Children who are early talkers – speaking sentences typical of 3-year-olds at 1 ½ - are NOT especially likely to be reading early A better predictor of reading having parents who read lots of stories to their child

This changes though, at 4 years old At this age, scores on intelligence tests begin to predict their teenage and adult scores At age 7, intelligence scores stabilize The consistency of scores over time increases with the age of the child

Robert Sternberg Why Smart People Can Be So Stupid Examines why intelligent people sometimes think and behave in such stupid ways that they end up destroying their livelihood & even their own lives Contributions from a multitude of scholars in human intelligence

The low extreme Mental retardation: a condition of limited mental ability, indicated by an intelligence score of 70 or below and difficulty in adapting to the demands of life; varies from mild to profound Only about 1% of the population fits this criteria Males outnumber females by 50% Sometimes has a known cause, sometimes unknown Down Syndrome: a condition of mental retardation and associated physical disorders caused by an extra chromosome in one’s genetic makeup

The low extreme Caring for those with mental retardation Over the past 200 years ideas on how to care for them has changed DRAMATICALLY Up until about 1850 they were cared for at home by family as best they could Many with severe disabilities died, but those with milder disabilities found a place in society Residential schools established mid-1800s By early 1900s they became mostly warehouses Little attention, no privacy, no contact with family

The low extreme Late 1900s brought the concept of ‘normalization’ Encouraged people to live in own communities Education varies from separate, less restrictive classrooms to mainstreaming into regular classrooms As intelligence tests change, the number of people who qualify as mentally retarded changes too, so there is a need to change how we care for them

The high extreme Society used to think of intellectually gifted children as ‘maladjusted’ In 1921, Lewis Terman proved that gifted children become healthy, well-adjusted, successful adults The can, however, be more isolated, introverted, and “in their own worlds”

The high extreme Gifted programs Many believe that 3-5% of children are “gifted” & should be given special classes and academic enrichment Critics say this creates a self-fulfilling prophecy and widens the achievement gap

What we know for sure Children have different gifts Educating children as if they were all alike it naïve We do not need to label kids to affirm special talents If we provide appropriate developmental placement suited to each child’s talents, we can promote equity & excellence for all students