Schooling, Tracking, and Teenage Intelligence

Abstract

Do schooling and tracking affect cognitive achievement in curriculum-related areas, while leaving basic scholastic intelligence unaltered? In the study presented in this article, we analyzed longitudinal data for young Israeli men born in 1954 to determine the effects of schooling and tracking in Israeli high schools on changes in psychometric intelligence during adolescence. The respondents' standardized scores on scholastic aptitude tests, administered at age 13, and their scores on the military screening test of cognitive ability, administered at age 17, were acquired from the administrative files. Information on the respondents' social background and complete educational histories were obtained in retrospective interviews. We found that (1) extended school enhances psychometric intelligence substantially during adolescence, more in the academic than in the vocational track, and (2) the psychometric intelligence of teenage dropouts from any track was more constant than that of continuing students. That is, schooling provides for some redistribution of cognitive (verbal) ability during adolescence.

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