Kids IQ Test

Kids IQ test first surfaced in 1904 when a French psychologist was asked to develop a test to measure the intelligence of school-aged children for the purpose of separating those children who were intellectually inferior in order to provide special teaching. Alfred Binet thus developed the first kids IQ test, which later became the Simon-Binet Scale.

Over the years, kids IQ tests became instituted in schools and variations of kids IQ tests surfaced across America. Many professionals began doubting the accuracy of kids IQ tests claiming that there was no single measurement that could be assigned to determine a child’s intelligence. However, many other professionals “proved” that intelligence could be measured and identified with a single test score.

Today kids IQ tests are still administered in educational settings in combination with a variety of other achievement and ability tests. The purpose is to help educators identify all levels of intelligence and learning abilities so that they might tailor educational needs to suit the child.

Parents should be strongly cautioned about how much stock is placed in a kid’s IQ test. Research has showed variables ranging from the time of day the test is administered to how much sleep the child has had can vary scores by as much as 15 points. Further, many educators rely on IQ and ability tests to measure a child’s potential, which could lead to educational suicide for some children. If a child is told that their potential is low, they may never strive for excellence for fear they will fail.

These tests can be of benefit if the results are used in conjunction with other methods of finding the best way to teach a child. Since intelligence itself is not clearly defined and abilities are compounded by common sense, motor skills, and cognitive thought, a kids IQ test shouldn’t be the only measure of determining what a child is or is not capable of achieving.