Are Kids Today Smarter Than Their Grandparents?

There was an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal the other day entitled "Are We Getting Smarter?"

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The article's author James Flynn explains that the average IQ score has risen 3 points per decade since 1900. (I always thought I was smarter than my dad and grandfather; now I have quantitative evidence!)

To Flynn, one of the main reasons for this is back in the early 1900s, the world was simpler and required much less education. It wasn't unusual for someone to attain only an elementary school education and then either work in a factory or on a farm.

Additionally, the world back required less higher-level, abstract thought from the average person to be a productive--and gainfully employed--member of society. (If you read the article, note the difficulty people in a small town in Russia in the early 1990s had about interview questions that expected more than a literal response.)

Today's world demands much more from its citizens. We're expected to think more hypothetically, creatively, symbolically, and critically than in past generations. Jobs in today's world are not mechanical and demand we think in a much more abstract manner than in previous generations.

The rise in IQ scores (IQ test questions more often require higher-level thinking and problem-solving and pattern-recognition abilities) has resulted in schools and society in general devoting more time to developing in its students and citizens habits, skills, and attitudes that value more abstract thought.

As an example, when I compare my life as a student (45 years ago) to my career as a teacher, I provided my students much more open-ended classroom activities and assignments than I had as a student.

This goes hand in hand with the skills that are viewed as essential for success in the 21st century--skills like communication (oral and written), collaboration (the ability to work in groups with people who are different from you; the ability to peacefully resolve conflict and negotiate and compromise), critical and creative thinking (yes, we all need knowledge but today it's more what you can do with it, while before knowledge was often considered the end in itself), character (especially in a more impersonal digital age, we all need practice in developing responsibility, trustworthiness, empathy, honesty, and humility).

While the purpose of the article was not to comment on our current educational system, it made me reflect on how schools--in response to societal needs--are actually being more true to the founding principles of Orchard and the core precepts of progressive education from the early 1900s. I don't know if Dewey would be satisfied with all schools today--let alone using IQ tests as a measure of intelligence---but I think he would be pleased that schools today, especially schools like Orchard, are providing opportunities for kids to develop competencies and habits that allow for creative and innovative thought and have relevance and direct correlation with workforce needs.