@HollaChalla Well, for the most part I can agree, however a lot of testing on ACT and SAT relies on concrete facts which aren’t taught in the parameters of conceptual and analytical processes. Moreover, we need to distinguish inherent/potential/genetic intelligence and how the child’s brain has been utilized… the person with the most potential will generally be average or even failing in intellect because of circumstances/bad parenting/etc, whereas the student with average inherent potential sent to great private schools will be scoring highly on these tests.
Moreover, like I’ve said before here, analytical thinking is not about predetermined criteria, it is about complexity. Sure, SAT testing does require a few dimensions of analytical process, and can absolutely be a sign a student is intelligent or even gifted, but a student can fill up a page of complicated work/analysis and get nowhere near the correct answer. This is because a multiple choice test does not cover the scope of possibilities one can think of, only what has been researched and found to be concretely ‘true.’ However, isn’t intelligence about abstraction? Why are we narrowing ourselves to this contradiction?
just because the student’s answer isn’t correct within established theory doesn’t mean the child is stupid for thinking differently in this respect. just because they don’t pick up on facts well doesn’t mean they’re any dumber than their classmates. this is usually just a result of being too out-of-touch with their environment, given their creative faculties are in high gear, and I think we make the mistake of equating ‘no facts in brain >>> drooling at their desk without any thoughts in their mind’