The Human Development Colloquium Series Presents:

What Are We Measuring In International Assessments? Many Things, But Probably Not IQ

Dr. Leslie Ann Rutkowski

Professor of Counseling and Educational Psychology

Qualitative and Quantitative Methods

School of Education, Indiana University

Abstract

International large-scale assessments (ILSAs), including TIMSS, PIRLS, and PISA, have become important evidentiary sources for countries to understand their education systems, to make comparisons, and to learn from others. Although ILSAs have proven beneficial in various ways, their data have also been used to make questionable claims. A troubling example is a rise in research that uses ILSA achievement scores as an intelligence measure. Initially, ILSA-based intelligence research was attributable to fringe scientists with empirically questionable bona fides. Concerningly, however, in recent years ILSA-based intelligence research has been conducted by more mainstream scholars, with publications in peer-reviewed, high-impact journals. This shift, from the fringes to mainstream scholarship necessitates a careful conversation. In this talk, I provide a brief history of intelligence testing. Based on seminal historic and current research, I offer several empirical and theoretical examples that build a case for why international assessments are not measures of intelligence.

Recommended Reading

What are we measuring in international assessments? Learning? Probably. Intelligence? Not likely, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2024.102421