Annals of Low-Quality Sociometry
People who are too eager to believe that Black-White test score gaps are immutable and permanent, episode MMCCLXXIV:
The Washington Monthly: CLICK THE LINK....Here is a complete post from Andrew Sullivan last night:
The Black-White Test Score Gap: It isn't going away. Charles Murray and James Flynn debate why here.
Really?
The fact that Charles Murray thinks the gap isn't going away is hardly news, but does James Flynn agree? That would be dispiriting indeed.
But there's no need to give up hope. Here's what Flynn really said:
We analyzed data from nine standardization samples for four major tests of cognitive ability. These data suggest that Blacks gained 4 to 7 IQ points on non-Hispanic Whites between 1972 and 2002. Gains have been fairly uniform across the entire range of Black cognitive ability.
That sure doesn't sound like "it isn't going away" to me. Murray and Flynn aren't debating "why," they're debating "whether." And Flynn has the better of the argument.
