Research shows that staying in school for two more years improves IQ scores
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Many researchers believe that a person's IQ is largely determined by their genes and the nutritional environment they had during their childhood, and there is much debate about the impact of schooling on a child's IQ score. However, a study conducted in Norway has concluded that the longer a child spends in school, the higher their IQ.
Schooling in adolescence raises IQ scores
(PDF file) https://www.ssb.no/a/filearchive/Schooling.pdf
Study: More Education Increases IQ Score
http://www.voanews.com/a/study-more-education-increases-iq-score-136593433/169492.html
Norway began educational reform in the mid-1950s, extending compulsory education from 14 to 16. Each community was required to implement the extension by 1972, so for about 20 years from the mid-1950s to 1972, some communities had seven years of compulsory education and others had nine years.
Researchers Christian N. Brincha and Taryn Ann Gallowaya of the University of Oslo in Norway examined data on men born between 1950 and 1958, comparing the IQs of men with seven years of compulsory education with those with nine years of compulsory education at age 19 and their educational attainment up to age 30. In Norway, men are required to have their IQ measured at age 19 before being drafted, so the study used data from approximately 107,000 men. The results were published in 2011.
The average IQ is 100, with approximately 68% of people falling between 85 and 115, and approximately 95% falling between 70 and 130. A Norwegian study found that men who received a full nine years of compulsory education had IQ scores 7 points higher than men who received seven years, and men who received eight years of compulsory education had IQ scores 3.7 points higher than men who received seven years. Due to the nature of education reform, there were three generations: those whose compulsory education was not extended, those whose compulsory education was extended by only one year, and those whose compulsory education was extended by two years. Each additional year of compulsory education resulted in higher IQ scores, which had a significant impact on men's cognitive ability.
by Evil Erin
'If the educational reform affected them and caused their average IQ to rise above average, this is a very significant thing,' Gallowaya said. Regarding the reason for the increase in IQ scores due to the extension of compulsory education, he said, 'General thinking skills are learned and practiced at school. Schools provide many opportunities to practice thinking skills, so we believe that extending compulsory education by two years resulted in an improvement in skills.'
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