We're measuring *something*, but IQ isn't quite true intelligence, which I don't think we've figured out what to measure.
It's really a proxy for something that has an odd geometry and which we see as "fuzzy" because we don't know what we're looking at.
And in any case, half the problem is that our "let's separate kids into industrial lots by age and process them" is technically insane.
Agreed.
Actually, I fundamentally disagree with "This one is Gifted and that one is Not Gifted," which might make it sound I think All Children Are Gifted. I don't. I just think it's very complicated and not very measurable by the tests, which are a blunt instrument at best. I wish we could just teach to the kids where they are, which would first of all mean demolishing grade structures. But my fantasy education world is awfully idealistic.
As I've said before here, I see vast differences in functioning even in a group of kids who are all 130+ in DD's class. It's really something. (However, I think the magnet attracts unusual kids and those with LDs--you have to really think your kid needs it to transfer, as there are some reasons why the school is outwardly unattractive to striver parents).
