Intelligence has been defined and studied under a number of different rubrics. Three individuals serve as a representative sample of the educational and psychological researchers associated with cognitive psychology who have made significant contributions to current understandings of intelligence. Robert Sternberg's theory contains subcategories…

This Digest overviews legal challenges in five areas of test use for decision-making in schools: ability tracking, placement in special education classes, test scores as college admissions criteria, test disclosure, and teacher competency testing. Cases illustrating these challenges are described and include: Hobson v. Hansen (1967), Moses v.…

With few exceptions, the development of adult intelligence assessment instruments has proceeded along the lines of the Binet-Simon tests for children, stressing psychological assessment over the evaluation of what an individual knows. These tests, developed over 90 years ago, were quite effective in predicting school success, but were much less…

Aptitude tests are defined in contrast to intelligence and achievement tests. Although aptitude tests, like intelligence tests, measure a student's overall performance across a broad range of mental capabilities, the former also often include items that measure more specialized abilities (such as verbal and numerical skills) that predict…

In educational research and evaluation, a sample of subjects usually received some type of programmatic treatment. Outcome scores for these students are then compared with outcome scores of a control or comparison group. M. Lewis and H. McGurk (1972) have pointed out that there are some implicit assumptions when this approach is applied to…

This digest discusses the origins of Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences, his definition of intelligence, the incorporation of the theory into the classroom, and its role in alternative assessment practices. Gardner defines intelligence as the "capacity to solve problems or to fashion products that are valued in one or more…