Intelligence of school children: Los Angeles as a case study 1922-1932

Abstract

In an effort to construct the most advanced school system in the nation, Los Angeles school administrators and educators initiated a new scientific method of group intelligence testing. Almost immediately educators discovered serious limitations with the process and resisted its exclusive use. This study examines the reception of this new technology in Los Angeles between 1922 and 1932. Many historians have seen those associated with I.Q. measuring as bulwarks supporting the hegemony of Anglo-Saxon upper-middle class society. While their criticism has brought some non-equitable aspects of twentieth-century public education to surface, it has not led to our understanding of how educators interpreted the tests. An analysis of the sources, including reports published in the Department of Psychology and Education Research Bulletin of the Los Angeles City Schools, the Teachers' and Principals' School Journal, and the Minute~ of the Board of Education, provides insight into how Los Angeles educators viewed standardized testing.

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