Raising Our Collective Intelligence

Posted on April 16, 2009 by Claire Adamsick

Topics: Education
Countries: United States

Early childhood education could be the best way to raise a nation's collective I.Q. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ebolasmallpox/1077726302/sizes/m/">horizontal.integration (flickr)</a>

Early childhood education could be the best way to raise a nation's collective I.Q. Photo: horizontal.integration (flickr)

Are we simply born with a predetermined IQ, or can it go up or down depending on what happens to us in life? This question of nature versus nurture is explored in a recent study that shows kids raised in poverty have statistically lower IQ's than middle- or upper-middle-class children.

A high IQ doesn't just translate to intellect, writes New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof. It also means a better chance of succeeding in life. Several studies show that intensive early childhood education programs can raise children's IQ's over time.

So to close the intelligence gap, Kristof says U.S. parents and policymakers should fund school-based intervention programs in low-income communities.

The implication of this new research on intelligence is that the economic-stimulus package should also be an intellectual-stimulus program. By my calculation, if we were to push early childhood education and bolster schools in poor neighborhoods, we just might be able to raise the United States collective IQ by as much as one billion points.

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Keywords: early childhood education, education, IQ, Nicholas Kristof, poverty

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