In this age of teacher accountability and high-stakes testing, practicing middle school teachers face many complex issues. Because adolescents must deal with the challenges of physical, social, emotional, and intellectual change, they are considered the most diverse population in the public school system. One way to increase achievement and…

This article presents an activity in which students pool their knowledge and creativity to make a song presenting what they have learned in a unit on the rock cycle. This highly motivating, integrated performance assessment incorporates multiple intelligences, reinforces learning, and is a student favorite in the elementary and middle grades.

The author talks about the benefits of dance education in the middle school setting. The author describes a scene in a dance classroom where all students can be successful, for within the confines of the space, a broad spectrum of learning preferences are addressed and multiple intelligences are acknowledged and validated. The author stresses that…

This article explains the use of the multiple intelligences theory and rubric design to assess student learning. A rubric is a series of narrative statements describing the levels of quality of a product or a performance. The article discusses how these assessment tools can be used in K-12 classrooms and notes ways to assess quality results by…

The purpose of this study was to examine the validity of the grades 6-8 version of DISCOVER, a performance-based assessment, and investigate its effectiveness in identifying gifted minority students. Questions examined the alignment between DISCOVER and Gardner's (1983) theory of multiple intelligences (MI) and assessed gender and ethnic…

This study investigated the effectiveness of a performance-based assessment (DISCOVER (Discovering Intellectual Strengths and Capabilities through Observation while allowing for Varied Ethnic Responses)) in identifying gifted minority middle school students. Research questions focused on examining the alignment between DISCOVER and Gardner's…

Outlines how verbal protocols were used to compare self-perceived intelligences of students to teachers' evaluations of students based on Howard Gardner's theorized intelligences. Results indicate a strong agreement between teacher perceptions and student identifications of Gardner's intelligences. Argues for more detailed studies before…

This booklet focuses on understanding authentic learning and assessment practices and their effect on students and teachers at the middle level. After an examination of what is meant by authentic learning, five guidelines are suggested for use in selecting authentic content for middle level students. Specifically, authentic materials: (1) should…