The End of Average: How We Succeed in a World That Values Sameness

by Todd Rose

Thorndike fully supported the Taylorization of schools. In fact, Thorndike played a leading role in the country’s largest training program for school superintendents, preparing them for their roles as scientific managers in the standardized educational system.34 But Thorndike believed that Taylorists were making a mistake when they argued that the goal of education was to provide every student with the same average education to prepare them for the same average jobs. Thorndike believed that schools should instead sort young people according to their ability so they could efficiently be appointed to their proper station in life, whether manager or worker, eminent leader or disposable outcast—and so that educational resources could be allocated accordingly. Thorndike’s guiding axiom was “Quality is more important than equality,” by which he meant that it was more important to identify superior students and shower them with support than it was to provide every student with the same educational opportunities.