Howard Gardner published, "Frames of mind : the theory of multiple intelligences,"
in 1983. Are you saying that twenty years is not enough time to test this theory
in schools? I think that a reasonable study could be done in three or four years.
So where are the studies? If this approach is as effective as you say it should be
easy to show positive effects on student achievement with well designed research.
Gardner's first book was exactly what the title said, THEORY. After a theory is published, it takes time to gain understanding, acceptance, and then to develop teaching practices and curriculum materials. The theory of Multiple Intelligences is not a simple cookbook method. And there isn't much available for teacher training yet in Multiple Intelligences. So actually, 20 years isn't a lot of time. But I can cite some research, if you want:
At White Marsh Elementary in Maryland, the overall achievement and confidence of the students has risen substantially in the five years since putting Gardner's theory into practice. In one year, students' scores on the Maryland School Performance Assessment rose by 20 percent. (Greenhawk, J. (1997). Multiple Intelligences Meet Standards. Educational Leadership, 55, 62-64.).
At Farmington elementary, test scores increased in the first year of implementation, and there was an even higher increase in the second year when the MI curriculum was in place throughout the classrooms. (Mettetal, G., Jordan, C., Harper, S. (1997). Attitudes Toward A Multiple Intelligences Curriculum. Journal of Educational Research, 91, 115-122.)
This is if you want to see results on traditional IQ tests. But what still needs to be developed are accepted standards for other intelligences, such as Interpersonal Intelligence, Kinesthetic, Musical, etc. The thing is, we all know people who got great grades when we were in school, but ended up not succeeding in life. And we all know kids for whom school was always a struggle, but who went on to become surprisingly successful in life. It's those qualities that are not measured on traditional IQ tests. Yes, I agree, kids need to be able to read and write in this world. But it's also a whole lot more than that. Let's look at the whole child, and strive to find ways to help each of them be successful as people.
Rita Miller
Hiawatha neighborhood
--- Begin Message ---[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Like Pamela Taylor, I am a very big advocate of using Multiple Intelligences >teaching methods as a way to help more kids succeed. I believe that employing MI >teaching techniques will help many kids who have difficulty succeeding through the >traditional linguistic and mathematical intelligences alone. Unfortunately, because >it is still so new, there aren't that many schools yet using it, so there isn't a lot >of research yet on academic results.Howard Gardner published, "Frames of mind : the theory of multiple intelligences," in 1983. Are you saying that twenty years is not enough time to test this theory in schools? I think that a reasonable study could be done in three or four years. So where are the studies? If this approach is as effective as you say it should be easy to show positive effects on student achievement with well designed research. Michael Atherton Prospect Park _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls--- End Message ---
