Multiple Intelligence Approaches to Assessment

The assessment conundrum results from the fact that students almost always know, understand, and have learned more than they can demonstrate on any tests administered. This book is about confronting current knowledge about assessment and applying it to restructuring the assessment process in schools so that assessment can become a means for enhancing and deepening learning. One aspect of the new knowledge educators have is the theory of multiple intelligences, which presents a new understanding of human intelligence and learning based on premises that intelligence is not fixed at birth, that it can be learned, taught, and enhanced, and that it is a multidimensional phenomenon present at multiple brain-body layers. A new operating vision of assessment is presented that is aligned with the emerging new paradigm. Following an introduction, Chapters 2 through 4 deal with the new approaches to intelligence and ability testing and ways to use student strengths to empower student weaknesses. Chapters 5 through 7 deal with new approaches to assessing and evaluating academic progress and present models that can broaden the scope of current testing practices. An appendix presents some intelligent report card models. (Contains 1 labeled figure, numerous illustrations, 29 assessment forms, and 89 references.) (SLD)