Running head: Implications of Cognitive Differences Implications of Cognitive Differences 2 Implications of Cognitive Differences for Schooling Within Diverse Societies

School psychologists face the same professional conundrum as do personnel selection psychologists. Specifically, they must deal with a reality—average group differences in cognitive ability—that American law and politics insist do not exist. They are on the front line of the clash between realities and hopes for racial parity in achievement. This chapter describes that clash. It begins by reviewing the scientific research on cognitive abilities, their uneven distribution across individuals and groups, and the group differences in academic placement and achievement that can be expected from current group differences in the distribution of cognitive ability. It concludes by outlining the challenges these differences pose for schools in diverse societies. CHAOTIC STATE OF KNOWLEDGE THREE DECADES AGO Racial-ethnic differences in cognitive ability and achievement became a focal point of research during the 1960s and 1970s after the U. S. Supreme Court banned de jure racial segregation in the public schools and as the Civil Rights Movement gained momentum. A look back at those early studies reveals how chaotic our understanding was then of the meaning, measurement, and organization of cognitive abilities and of their distribution across population subgroups