The type of college or university one values most depends, at least in part, upon which of three distinct traditions of democracy in relation to American higher education one espouses. In this article, the author identifies three distinct traditions of democracy in relation to American higher education and suggests that the type of college or…

The current need to think globally over the long term has necessarily altered perspectives in education. Expectations for educational outcomes have increased over the last century for all students and, in many societies, diverse educational programs are available for those who are deemed to be particularly gifted. However, many children are likely…

When individuals are identified, especially children, as gifted in one or more domains, what they know about the domain (e.g., school achievement) and their ability to learn about that domain more rapidly or more thoroughly than other individuals (e.g., school aptitudes) is often the focus of concentration. But gifted adults are usually identified…

Many students could learn more effectively than they do now if they were taught in a way that better matched their patterns of abilities. Teaching for successful intelligence provides a way to create such a match. It involves helping all students capitalize on their strengths and compensate for or correct their weaknesses. It does so by teaching…

We assessed the importance of academic and practical intelligence in rural and relatively urban Yup'ik Alaskan communities with respect to Yup'ik-valued traits rated by adults or peers in the adolescents' communities. A total of 261 adolescents participated in the study; of these adolescents, 145 were females and 116 were males, and they were from…

Distinct from academic intelligence, successful intelligence is the acquisition and use of what one must know to succeed in a particular environment. People with high successful intelligence know their own strengths and weaknesses; are goal-oriented, highly motivated, and efficacious; follow through; own and assume responsibility for their own…

Is it possible simultaneously to enhance the academic quality of the student body and to increase its diversity? Assessments of creative and practical skills were given to college freshmen at thirteen varied institutions to supplement the SAT. Prediction of freshman-year GPA roughly doubled, and ethnic-group differences were substantially…

To identify diverse student strengths and to learn how teachers can build instruction on those strengths, the author and his colleagues have conducted multiple studies among students in Alaska, the mainland United States, Kenya, and other countries. In a series of studies in Alaska and Kenya, the researchers measured the adaptive cultural…

This commentary on Gardner's "Multiple Intelligences: The Theory in Practice" examines implications of Gardner's belief that his theory is a basis for educational reform, proposing reforms that would immediately benefit students and suggesting that formulating educational reform around the whole child rather than hypothetical ability…