List, I would like to thank Rita for her MI information and for keeping me from believing I am alone in my fight.
A few years ago (1998) I attended a regional information session for the "21st Century Learning Grants" and the federal government recognized MI as important, and stressed that people should include applications of it in thier proposals. They recognized and spoke on the impact it had had around the country. They were not looking to "only include programs that have been tried and true." They wanted to see new and innovative approaches. Minneapolis Public Schools had a chance to have a funded three year program to test this, in three different schools. I sat in the meetings as part of the team to write the grant. The school board decided to have a woman from the Youth Coordinating Board write the grant, so that cut out the input from the rest of the so-called team. When I read it before they sent it in, I knew it was going to get a big nothing. Not only did it not have MI anywhere in it, the regular same old same old programs had no zip to them. They were unwilling to take any chances, staying with the expected norm. They were rewarded with a big fat nothing for their efforts. Maybe they were afraid that if it were found to actually work, parents may press them to actually infuse the staid old curriculum with it! I would like to suggest that list members actually BUY the book "7 Kinds of Smarts" (a worthwhile investment)and do some experiments on themselves and their children over the summer break. See for yourself. MI is not just for kids, it helps adults figure out some things, too. Some of you may even figure out how to better relate to your children, understanding what makes them tick and why they ask you the question that they do. You may even learn how to relate to other adults in your everyday life. Everything takes time. Just like politics. The green Party did not really just suddenly spring from the woodwork. They have been around all the time, but no one has wanted to acknowledge their presence. Even now, people are trying to squash the very idea of them. Well, it ain't gonna happen. They are here to stay. So is Multiple Intelligence. Some can say give them more proof, and for some there will never be enough proof. But its here to stay, too. Pamela Taylor (A believer in Tampa) --- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > In a message dated 4/23/2002 9:52:29 AM Central > Daylight Time, > [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > > > > 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 > > ATTACHMENT part 2 message/rfc822 > From: Michael Atherton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: Mpls List <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: Re: Fwd: [Mpls] RE: Schools and Multiple > Intelligences > Date: Tue, 23 Apr 2002 09:50:09 -0500 > > [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 > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! 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