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Project Spectrum offers an alternative approach to assessment and curriculum development
for the preschool and early primary years. Project Spectrum's work is based on the belief
that each child exhibits a distinctive profile of different abilities, or spectrum of
intelligences. These intelligences are not fixed; rather, they can be enhanced by
educational opportunities such as an environment rich in stimulating materials and
activities. The Spectrum approach emphasizes identifying children's areas of strength and
using this information as the basis for an individualized educational program.
The goal of the project from 1984 to 1988 was to determine whether distinctive intellectual strengths could be identified and assessed in children as young as four years old. Spectrum researchers designed assessment activities in seven different domains of knowledge: language, math, music, art, social understanding, science, and movement. The assessments are embedded in meaningful, hands-on activities, such as playing a bus game, telling a story with a storyboard, and taking apart and assembling meat grinders. From 1988 to 1993, Spectrum researchers worked in public schools in Somerville and Roxbury, Massachusetts to address the needs of children who were slightly older (K-2), including those at risk for school failure. During this time, work included: 1) developing a modified field inventory using a subset of the original assessment activities; 2) designing learning center activities that help children develop key abilities in eight domains; 3) adapting the Spectrum framework for a children's museum; and 4) creating a mentorship program based on the Spectrum approach in an inner city elementary school. The Spectrum approach can be used in a variety of ways: as an alternative assessment technique, as a set of engaging curriculum activities, or as a powerful component for intervention programs. In a broader sense, Spectrum provides a theoretical framework that can help to bring about important changes in the understanding of children's growth, appreciation of children's strengths, and the creation of an optimal educational atmosphere for children's learning.
Additional readings and materialsMany of these materials can be purchased through Project Zero's eBookstore. 3-Volume series available from Project Zero.
Adams, M.L., & Feldman, D.H. (1993). Project Spectrum: A theory-based approach to early education. In R. Pasnak and M.L. Howe (Eds.), Emerging themes in cognitive development, (2, 53-76). New York: Springer-Verlag. Chen, J.Q. (1993, April). Building on children's strengths: Project Spectrum intervention program for students at risk for school failure. Biennial meeting of the Society of Research in Child Development, New Orleans, LA. (ERIC Document Reproduction Services No. ED 357 847) Feldman, D.H. (1980). Beyond universals in cognitive development. New York: Ablex Publishers. Feldman, D.H. (1986). Nature's gambit. New York: Basic Books. Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences. New York: Basic Books. Gardner, H., & Hatch, T. (1989). Multiple intelligences go to school. Educational Researcher, 18 (8), 4-10. Krechevsky, M. (1991). Project Spectrum: An innovative assessment alternative. Educational Leadership, 48 (5), 43-49. Krechevsky, M., & Gardner, H. (1990). The emergence and nurturance of multiple intelligences. In M.J.A. Howe (Ed.), Encouraging the development of exceptional abilities and talents. Leicester, UK: The British Psychological Society. Krechevsky, M., Hoerr, T., & Gardner, H. (1995). Complementary energies: Implementing MI theory from the laboratory and from the field. In J. Oakes & K.H. Quartz (Eds.), Creating new educational communities: Ninety-fourth Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, Part I. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Krechevsky, M., Malkus, U. (1997). Telling their stories, singing their songs. In J. Flood, S. Brice Heath, & D. Lapp (Eds.), Handbook of research on teaching literacy through the communicative and visual arts. New York: Macmillan. Malkus, U., Feldman, D.H., & Gardner, H. (1988). Dimensions of mind in early childhood. In A.D. Pellegrini (Ed.), Psychological bases for early education. Chichester, UK: Wiley. Viens, J. (1990). Project Spectrum: A pluralistic approach to intelligence and assessment in early education, Part I. Teaching Thinking and Problem Solving, 12 (2), 1-4. Viens, J. (1990). Project Spectrum: A pluralistic approach to intelligence and assessment in early education, Part II. Teaching Thinking and Problem Solving, 12 (3), 6-12. |
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