More Trouble than it’s Worth When one is asked to consider the question "What makes a person intelligent?," the most common responses will often note a person's ability to solve problems, utilize logic, and think critically. These typical traits of intelligence are sometimes lumped together under the label of "raw intelligence." A person's intelligence is contained in his or her general intellect - in otherwords, how each and every one of us comprehend, examine, and respond to outside stimuli, whether it be to solve a math problem correctly or to anticipate an opponent's next move in a game of tennis. Our intelligence, therefore, is our singular, collective ability to act and react in an ever-changing world. The measuring of raw intelligence with tests continues in all areas of education. One of the most famous examples is the Scholastic Aptitude Test, or SAT. The SAT, which analyzes a student's mathematic and grammatical abilities as well as reading comprehension and vocabulary, is used by nearly every college in America to help determine whether a student is qualified to enter that institution. Because it is assumed that the SAT can predict future achievement, certain scores could automatically dictate whether a student was in or out of a prospective program. The SAT program is a wonderful tool to be used to gauge a students aptitude, but it seems that colleges are solely basing acceptance on those criteria. What is a student to think when the first hurdle he or she must jump is a required 1300 score on the SAT to enter into any particular higher institution of learning? That this is the one and only hurdle and you mind as well not even start the race because you don’t have the right shoes.To this day, American education is dictated by the student's scores on a battery of intelligence tests, from kindergarten through university. Advocates of traditional education continue to push this paradigm of Uniform Schooling - an ...
