Unit 2: All By Myself!School Readiness and

Intelligence

School Readiness

What is School Readiness?

School Readiness involves

• Children

• Families

• Early Environments (family care and child care)

• Schools

• Communities

(Maxwell & Clifford, 2004)

Question…

• What are specific factors that you believe affect school readiness?

Characteristics of Ready Schools

• Smooth transition from home to school• Continuity between early care and elementary school• Make sense of the world• Commitment to every child• Use effective teaching practices• Change practices when needed• Function as a community• Take responsibility• Provide leadership

(Maxwell & Clifford, 2004)

Question…

• What is your opinion on delaying school entry?

School Readiness Assessment

Assessment of young children around school entry-right before kindergarten, at kindergarten entry, or very early in the kindergarten year.

1. Improve learning2. Identify children with special needs3. Evaluate programs4. Monitor trends over time5. Use for high-stakes accountability(Maxwell & Clifford, 2004)

Question…

• What part does assessment play in identifying students with special needs? Explain the importance of early intervention.

Types of Assessment

• Naturalistic – Assessment that occurs in the natural setting and

provides opportunities for children to perform skills from various domains

– Observations, work samples, checklists, anecdotal records

• Standardized, norm referenced– Assessment that is formal with a set of standard

questions and results that are based on comparisons to other children

Question…

• What do you see as advantages or disadvantages of naturalistic assessment?

Question…

• What do you see as advantages or disadvantages of standardized, norm referenced assessment?

Intelligence

Question…

• How would you define intelligence?

IntelligenceIntelligence

Psychologists don’t all agree about the nature of intelligence.

However, it’s the term that most use to talk about the extent to which a person can consistently learn and perform effectively in a wide variety of situations.

Defining IntelligenceDefining Intelligence

• It is adaptive (can be used flexibly and in a variety of situations)

• It involves learning ability

• It involves the use of prior knowledge

• It involves many different mental processes

• It is culture-specific

(McDevitt & Ormrod, 2007)

Definition of IntelligenceDefinition of Intelligence

Ability to apply past knowledge and experiences flexibly to accomplish challenging new tasks (McDevitt & Ormrod, 2007)

Question…

Why do you think past knowledge and experiences are relevant to understanding intelligence?

Theoretical Perspectives of IntelligenceTheoretical Perspectives of Intelligence

• Spearman’s g

• Cattell’s Fluid and Crystallized Intelligences

• Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences

• Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory

• Distributed Intelligence

(McDevitt & Ormrod, 2007)

Spearman’s gSpearman’s g

• Charles Spearman (1904,1927)• Proposed that intelligence comprises both

– A single, pervasive reasoning ability (general factor) that is used on a wide variety of tasks

– A number of narrow abilities (specific factors) involved in executing particular tasks

• Information Processing Speed(McDevitt & Ormrod, 2007)

Cattell’s Fluid Cattell’s Fluid and Crystallized Intelligencesand Crystallized Intelligences

• Raymond Cattell (1963,1987)• Fluid Intelligence (gf) – abililty to acquire

knowledge quickly and adapt to new situations effectively (influenced by biological factors)

• Crystallized Intelligence (gc) – the knowledge and skills they have accumulated from their experiences, schooling, and culture (influenced by environmental factors)

(McDevitt & Ormrod, 2007)

Gardner’s Multiple IntelligenceGardner’s Multiple Intelligence

• People who are quite skilled in one are but may be seemingly average in others

• Multiple Intelligence may take someone different forms in different cultures – For example, a farming community would

emphasize the naturalist intelligence because they depend on natural patterns for their sustenance.

• Offers the possibility that the great majority of children are intelligent in one way or another

(McDevitt & Ormrod, 2007)

Gardner’s 8 Multiply IntelligenceGardner’s 8 Multiply Intelligence

• Linguistic• Logical-Mathematical• Spatial• Musical• Bodily-Kinesthetic• Interpersonal• Intrapersonal• NaturalistWhat are your strengths?

Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory

Intelligent behavior involves:1. Cognitive Processes• Interpreting new situations• Concentration• Identifying important information• Problem solving• Finding relationships between different ideas• Using feedback• Applying cognitive and metacognitive processes(McDevitt & Ormrod, 2007)

Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory

Intelligent behavior involves:2. Prior Experience• Using prior experience to deal with new

information and situations• Dealing with familiar situations quickly and

effectively3. Environmental Context• Adapting information to fit the environment• Adapting the environment to fit personal needs• Selecting an environment(McDevitt & Ormrod, 2007)

Distributed IntelligenceDistributed Intelligence

• Intelligent behavior depends on physical, social, and cultural support mechanisms

• Children and Adolescents can “distribute” their thinking in at least three ways– They can use physical objects, and especially

technology, to handle and manipulate large amounts of information

– They can work with others to explore ideas and solve problems

– They can represent and think about the situations they encounter using the various symbolic tools their culture provides

(McDevitt & Ormrod, 2007)

Measuring IntelligenceMeasuring Intelligence

• Alfred Binet• Identifying students who would have

exceptional difficulty in regular classrooms and would be in need of special education services

• Intelligence Test: general measure of current cognitive functioning, used primarily to predict academic achievement over the short term.

(McDevitt & Ormrod, 2007)

Test of General IntelligenceTest of General Intelligence

• General Intelligence Test– Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (verbal

comprehension, perceptual reasoning, working memory, processing speed)

– Standford-Binet Intelligence Scales (fluid reasoning, knowledge, working memory, visual-spatial processing, quantitative reasoning)

– Universal Nonverbal Intelligence Test• IQ Scores(McDevitt & Ormrod, 2007)

Validity and ReliabilityValidity and Reliability

Validity of an intelligence test is the extent to which it actually measures intelligence

Reliability of an intelligence test is the extent to which it yields consistent, dependable scores.

Group Differences in Intelligence

• Gender

• Socioeconomic

• Ethnic and Racial

Question…

What do you see as the pros and cons of using intelligence tests?

Effects of Heredity and Environment

Heredity• Twin Studies• Adoption StudiesEnvironmental Influences• Twin Studies and Adoption Studies• Early Nutrition• Toxic Substances• Home Environment• Early Intervention• Formal Schooling• Flynn Effect: gradual increase in intelligence test

performance observed in many industrialized countries over the past several decades

Question…

Do you believe that both nature and nurture affect intelligence?

Do you believe one is more influential than the other?

Explain.

Exceptionalities in Intelligence

• Giftedness: Unusually high ability in one or more areas, to the point where children require special educational services to help them meet their full potential

• Mental Retardation: Disability marked by significantly below-average general intelligence and deficits in adaptive behavior

Case Study: Fresh VegetablesSteven (12 years old)• No known genetic problems• Labeled with mental retardation• Schooling: one year of first grade• Not permitted to go to school or go out to play; limited

to his apartment• Sent back to school and teacher began to suspect

that his issue was a lack of background experience rather than mental retardation?

• Students had to bring “fresh” vegetables to class; Steven brought a can of beans

• Steven said they were fresh because he got them off the shelf that morning

• By high school, Steven was in regular classes and maintaining a GPA of 3.5

Case Study: Fresh Vegetables

1) Did Steven have mental retardation? Why or Why Not?

2) The school psychologist recommended that Steven be placed in a special class for students with special needs. Was such a class an appropriate placement for Steven? Why or Why Not?

Reminders for the Unit

• Complete reading – Chapter 8 and Web Resources

• Post your answer to our discussion board question and respond to your classmates’ posts2 Classmate Responses are Required per Question

100 + word Responses

Add value to the conversation – Don’t Just Say, “I agree or I like what you said”

• Attend Seminar OR complete Option 2