Can you provide references for the historical use of Stanford-Binet and WISC for denying access to education in the US?
[WS:] What do you think the purpose of SAT, GRE and similar exercises is, if not to identify those who will be denied admission to educational institutions?
As to a comprehensive list historical uses IQ/'aptitude' testing for explicitly racists and elitist purposes, please consult the book by Stephen Jay Gould, _Mismeasure of Man_.
Matt: This seems contrary to the practice of educators and psychologists, who use them for identifying students in need of special education, whether for special-needs or for being gifted. They are often given as *part* of the US public education system, if an educator thinks there is cause.
[WS:] That is one possible use of such tests, but I would argue it is quite marginal. More often than not, candidates for special ed are identified based on the amount of trouble they generate for school administrators and teachers, and if they are tested for their special needs at all, these tests are often ignored by the administration.
In his "Brief history of neoliberalism" David Harvey observes that pie-in-the-sky idealists often act as inadvertent facilitators, if not purveyors, of right wing agendas. I think the same applies to some of the views on aptitude testing expressed on this list. Yes, in theory these tests can be used to help children in needs, but that is not why they are in place and how they have been historically used. They have been and still are a tool legitimizing discrimination, and deny access to academic institutions. Bringing up their possible beneficial applications is akin to bringing up Catholic charity as a justification of the colonization of America by the Spaniards. For every work of charity, there were dozens if not hundreds of infernal deeds by the Conquistadores. With such a cost/benefit balance I say, fuck Catholic charity and fuck standardized testing.
Wojtek