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Does IQ Matter?
- Abstract
THE last four or five years have not exactly been years of glory for American liberals. Some of the reasons for this-like the war or the President-are ephemeral. At least one other, however-the depressing performance of recent liberal social programs-probably is not. The poor record of the social legislation of the 60 ‘s has seriously shaken confidence in traditional liberal reform strategies, and since education has always occupied a favored role in those strategies, it has come in for a good share of the questioning. The apparent failure of programs like Headstart has raised doubts as to whether investment in education for the poor will promote equality.
Most commentators have responded to this development in a characteristically American fashion. The failure of earlier programs has been attributed to inadequate resources, indifferent professionals, or intractable bureaucracies. Reform can proceed, we are told, only when more money is spent, or when educational institutions are made more responsive, or when the professions are made more accountable. In response to apparent failure a whole new generation of optimistic proposals has sprung up.
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