Intelligence Testing and Chicanos: A Quality of Life Issue

Abstract

Chicanos, like other nonwhite minorities in the United States, find themselves at a heavy political, economic and educational disadvantage, and are one of the major target populations in America's attempt to provide equal educational opportunity. As a major instrument employed by educational institutions in the allocation of educational opportunity, the social activity of intelligence testing becomes an important concern for the Chicano community. That Chicanos have been limited in their educational opportunities and in the enjoyment of the benefits of American society is evident in their underrepresentation in occupations and professions requiring extended education. Our purpose will not be to present intelligence testing as a causal agent in the development of the Chicanos' educational situation, but rather, as part of an educational ideology that attempts to legitimate the Chicanos' educational inequalities as a result of the group's inability to function competently within the American institutional structure.