Examining the Potential for Academic Achievement among Inuit Children

Abstract

A longitudinal design was used to examine intellectual potential and development of analytic intelligence among Inuit children in Arctic Quebec. Children completed the board form of the Coloured Progressive Matrices (CPM) on four occasions during the first two years of formal education. Inuit children's CPM scores were consistently higher than age-appropriate U.S. norms and were comparable with data for White children in southern Quebec. In addition, the scores of children with two Inuit parents did not differ significantly from those of children with mixed Inuit/White heritage. Finally, language of instruction and teacher's ethnicity did not affect scores. In terms of the capacities measured by the CPM, Inuit children do not appear to be deficient in intellectual capacity at the time of entry into school. The factors that contribute to their academic under-achievement appear to do so by preventing the learning of specific classroom materials rather than affecting their intellectual development.