The Outdated Tests Far Too Many Schools Still Use to Judge a Kid's Ability

This story about intelligence testing in schools was produced by the Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Even before her son started kindergarten, Ashley Meier Barlow realized that she might have to fight for his education. Her son has Down syndrome; when he was in prekindergarten, school officials in Fort Thomas, Kentucky, told Barlow that he wouldn't be going to the neighborhood school, with some special education accommodations, as she had assumed. Instead, the educators told Barlow that they wanted her son to attend a classroom across town meant for children who are profoundly impacted by their disabilities. Barlow immediately resisted because she knew the curriculum would likely focus on life skills, and her son might never be taught much reading beyond learning the shape of common, functional words like stop and exit.