Revealing Minds: Assessing to Understand and Support Struggling Learners

By Craig Pohlman

Book Overview

Revealing Minds is a practical, hands-on guide to assessing learning problems, based on the approach of All Kinds of Minds, the groundbreaking nonprofit institute co-founded by Mel Levine. Whereas most assessments of struggling learners focus on what is "broken" within a student and needs to be fixed, All Kinds of Minds has adopted a more positive and comprehensive approach to the process. Rather than labeling children or categorizing them into certain pre-defined groups, their optimistic and helpful path creates a complete picture (or "profile") of each student, outlining the child's assets along with any weaknesses, and identifying specific breakdown points that lead to problems at school.

The process of assessment should be able to answer a question such as, "Why is my son struggling with reading?" with a better answer than, "Because he has a reading disability." Revealing Minds shows how to discover hidden factors--such as language functioning, memory ability, or attention control--that are impeding a student's learning. It goes beyond labels and categories to help readers understand what's really going on with their students and create useful learning plans.

Providing scores of real-life examples, definitions of key terms, helpful diagrams, tables, and sample assessments, Pohlman offers a useful roadmap for educators, psychologists, and other professionals to implement the All Kinds of Minds approach in their own assessments.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0787987905
• ISBN13: 9780787987909
• Release Date: August 2007
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 1.47 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 7.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

REFRESHING INSIGHTS

This book is refreshing! As might be expected, it applies the latest understandings in neuroscience/neurodevelopment to the issues of assessment of learners, children specifically, who present with "learning differences." Pohlman has written a book that should be used in all Educational Psychology courses in colleges and universities--yet is entirely approachable as a resource for parents who may not have a background in this field. (Note for parents who may have felt intimidated by the lingo of the experts: pp. 23-29 on "A Neurodevelopmental Framework" and "Selecting a Framework" plus the whole of Chapter 3 on Task Analysis and Chapter 4 on Making Linkages are so understandable that these sections alone would make the purchase of the book worthwhile! And the Glossary should be required reading for all parents.) Later chapters on assessing Attention, Memory, and Language are so clear that student, professional, or parent alike would benefit from a close reading. Of particular interest is Chapter 12 on "Demystification"--the process that addresses the need of students to have a meaningful understanding of how their minds work, both academically and in real-life tasks. This involves briefing students honestly about their assets as well as their weaknesses, and what could be called "normalizing"--in the process, helping students understand that all human beings have weaknesses in some aspect of cognitive processes. For parents, the Glossary is invaluable for a clearer understanding of many of the terms used by professionals in the field. For parents and professionals alike, the clarity of the "Index of Potential Findings" in Appendix C is one of the richest contributions to the field of assessment. All in all, this book is an invaluable resource; grounded in thorough research and deep professional experience, Dr. Pohlman has offered a book that is incisive and refreshing in its clarity. -Andrew Matthews

a compassionate view

As a parent, I could sense Dr. Pohlman's sincere desire to help children and their families. If more professionals would use the "Revealing Minds" approach, more children would get meaningful assessments with effective learning plans, while being treated with dignity and respect. Thank you, Dr. Pohlman!

A Must Read

This is the most insightful assessment book I have ever read. It should be required reading for all education students as well as anyone who works with children. I only wish it were even longer!

What a wonderful resource!

Revealing Minds offers educators a new way of looking at assessment which has been sorely needed in the field for too long. There are so many struggling students who are misunderstood and would benefit from the insights offered by Dr. Pohlman. It is very well-written and accessible - parents also would learn a great deal from this user-friendly book.

Revealing Minds

This is one of the best books about assessment that I have ever read. This is a must read for all clinicians and teachers working with children with learning difficulties today. A totally fresh perspective on assessment.