The mean African American IQ might actually be only 78 rather than 85
http://www.vdare.com/rushton/100723_nisbett.htm
July 23, 2010
Nisbett Wrong, Againâ€"No Black Gains In Reading and Mathematics Over
Five Decades
By Professor J. Philippe Rushton
(snip)
When Jensen and I reviewed Nisbett's book, we noted that his claims of Black IQ gains relative to whites were far too high. But, in common with other race realist scientists, we tended to assume there must have been some improvement.
However, our new analysis finds that from 1954 to 2008 Black 17-year-olds consistently scored at the level of White 14-year-olds on tests of mathematics and readingâ€"i.e. in more than fifty years, there had been no significant change at all.
(snip)
The lowest scores in our analysis came from the gold standard NAEP tests (70, 71, and 77). In our review of Nisbett's book mentioned earlier, Jensen and I noted the possibility that the mean African American IQ might actually be only 78 rather than 85â€"in part because, even today, test developers and educational researchers seldom get to examine the very lowest scoring segments of the Black population in inner cities.
Taken together, our results indicate no significant Black gain in educational achievement for over 50 years. When evidence in favor of Black gains is presented, it typically rests on insufficient sampling and highly selective reporting.
By contrast, the results in Figure 1 are based on a highly reliable composite based on combining the Reading and Mathematics scores of the NAEP.
Our conclusion: predictions about the Blackâ€"White IQ gap narrowing are based on faith rather than evidence, wishful thinking rather than critical analysis.
There is no more reason to expect Blackâ€"White differences in IQ to narrow as a result of, say, the secular rise in IQ over time, than to expect maleâ€"female differences in height to narrow as a result of secular changes in height due to nutrition. The (mostly heritable) cause of the former is not the (mostly environmental) cause of the latter.
http://www.vdare.com/rushton/100723_nisbett.htm
July 23, 2010
Nisbett Wrong, Againâ€"No Black Gains In Reading and Mathematics Over
Five Decades
By Professor J. Philippe Rushton
(snip)
When Jensen and I reviewed Nisbett's book, we noted that his claims of Black IQ gains relative to whites were far too high. But, in common with other race realist scientists, we tended to assume there must have been some improvement.
However, our new analysis finds that from 1954 to 2008 Black 17-year-olds consistently scored at the level of White 14-year-olds on tests of mathematics and readingâ€"i.e. in more than fifty years, there had been no significant change at all.
(snip)
The lowest scores in our analysis came from the gold standard NAEP tests (70, 71, and 77). In our review of Nisbett's book mentioned earlier, Jensen and I noted the possibility that the mean African American IQ might actually be only 78 rather than 85â€"in part because, even today, test developers and educational researchers seldom get to examine the very lowest scoring segments of the Black population in inner cities.
Taken together, our results indicate no significant Black gain in educational achievement for over 50 years. When evidence in favor of Black gains is presented, it typically rests on insufficient sampling and highly selective reporting.
By contrast, the results in Figure 1 are based on a highly reliable composite based on combining the Reading and Mathematics scores of the NAEP.
Our conclusion: predictions about the Blackâ€"White IQ gap narrowing are based on faith rather than evidence, wishful thinking rather than critical analysis.
There is no more reason to expect Blackâ€"White differences in IQ to narrow as a result of, say, the secular rise in IQ over time, than to expect maleâ€"female differences in height to narrow as a result of secular changes in height due to nutrition. The (mostly heritable) cause of the former is not the (mostly environmental) cause of the latter.
