IQ score dropping in teens

Your child is not getting dumber nor is he getting poorer testing. THis is a pretty well documented testing problem called the Matthew effect. It refers to the idea of the “poor getting poorer”. At earlier grades, less intelligence (as measured by IQ tests)is based on reading, but as the kid goes up in school an increasing amount test performance is based on reading or info gained by reading. Rather than showing “actual intelligence” going down, it has been used to show inadequate education.
Take a look at this website:
http://www.wrightslaw.com/advoc/ltrs/ltr_Pat_falling_IQscores.html

—des

Good reply Des.

This is a primary reason why NCLB was needed to turn our public schools around (I know some do not agree, but I believe that).

As Des says, your child is not “getting dumber” but what is probably happening is the instruction is being dumbed down. I agree with Dad, that this is why NCLB is so important for our kids because it raises the bar for students on IEPs.
I think back to when my son (with language based learning disabilities) was in eighth grade and the IEP team was recommending courses for him for his high school schedule. They suggested he take Level 3 out of four levels of courses with 1 being the honors courses. I fought them on this and he is taking Level 2 courses with assistive technology so that he can access the curriculum and read books like “To Kill a Mockingbird” independently. Otherwise, he would miss out on the age appropriate vocabulary among many other skills and his WISC scores would reflect the lack of exposure to grade level instruction.

We have to fight the institutional “dumbing down for success” attitude that is so pervasive. Otherwise, we will continue to see IQ test scores decrease over time and students on IEPs continue to score in the lowest categories on statewide tests.

It’s much easier for teachers to have lower expectations than to raise the standards for academic success with the right instructional methods, accommodations and technology in place.

ktj

what technology is your son using?

We will be meeting in jan/feb with the high school to discuss classes

Are you only doing this for literature classes?

Marycas,
He is using a variety of text-to-speech programs to help him access the curriculum in English and Social Studies which are content heavy classes. To read the books for his level 2 English class, he downloads the books from Bookshare.org (he’s a member since he has a learning disability), and converts them to MP3 format so he can listen to them as he follows along in the book. He does this independently.

He takes his tests on the computer at school where he uses text-to-speech software to read the test to him so that he doesn’t misread anything. This was a problem in the past. He also uses text-to-speech to help him edit his work as he can more easily catch the errors when he listens to what he has produced.

He would love to have a laptop so that everything would be readily available to him and he could also keep his schedule in Outlook but I”m not sure we can afford that. The hardest part for him is getting everything digitized from the teachers. They are supposed to have things scanned into the computer ahead of time, but that doesn’t always happen.

When you meet with your son’s team, ask for an Assistive Technology Assessment.

I’m not gung ho on NCLB, but I think there are things you can do to mitigate the lower language level of ld kids as they get into hs. Probably a good idea to start this earlier and do the reading to them at their intellectual level.

I have adviced my tutoring clients to read to their kids at their grade level with good literature. As they get older the text to speech materials get more important.

—des

Welp, he may not be “getting dumber,” but… well, actually, in a sense, he may be. If you don’t use it, you lose it.

Sometimes, however, because of specifics on a test, the same child being challenged appropriately will score lower, if his challenges “count more” as he gets older. Speed would be a classic example - the bright slow processor is going to use that intelligence to mask the speed issue in the younger years, but as the tasks get more complex, he will lose more of the points for speed that are part of the test. He’s just as smart - but the test hits him more where it hurts.

Think carefully about how to steer his courses. What are his academic strenghts?
Schools *do* have a fairly horrible tendency to dumb kids down. On the other hand, sometimes you can learn more in a “level 3” class than a “level 1” class if it is a better match for your style (or a better teacher match). If the higher level course is taught as a competition, with the teacher liking to brag about the work load she dumps on her students, then a whole lot of learning gets compromised in the name of survival. On the other hand, in most “level 3” kinds of courses, learning is just plain compromised by everybody and nobody expects much at all. Sometimes you ahve to think out of the box and go in with the intention of learning regardless of what the grades say. And at some point, whether school’s worth attending is a worthy question.

Look into a Dana - it’s a glorified AlphaSmart that’s got Palm OS software so he could keep his schedule on it. (You can even get it with wireless and check your email…)