Revealing Minds: Assessing to Understand and Support Struggling Learners

by Craig Pohlman

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.

Genres: Education, Nonfiction

352 pages, Paperback

First published August 31, 2007

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Useful!!

[Lars Guthrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A devout disciple of Mel Levine, Pohlman helped me to better come to terms with the All Kinds of Minds guru's theoretical framework for neurodevelopmental constructs. I'll be returning to this book often for definitions, specific descriptions of assessment methods (including standardized tests, and vocabulary that leads toward a clear understanding of learners' strengths and weaknesses. I particularly found Pohlman's overview of memory very helpful. His suggestions for broader neuropsych reports with less diagnostic labeling and more exact description are ones I wish more experts would take to heart. And I totally back his advocacy for "demystifying" parents and students.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pohlman makes a clear case for a positive assessment approach that “demystifies” a learner’s weaknesses and assets, with the aim of providing an effective prescription for instructional support. A neurodevelopmental framework is introduced to explain how to recognize the linkages between academic skills and neurodevelopmental functions through the use of appropriate assessment tasks. Pohlman promotes a phenomenological approach to understanding a student (by “splitting,” or breaking things down to the root causes, rather than “lumping”) and provides guidance for organizing this information in an understandable way for everyone involved, including the student.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

While this book might be perceived as having been written for school psychologists, the very idea of assessing for understanding learners is an approach and skill set that every educator needs in today's world of personalized, student-centered learning. Focusing on "high-incidence, low-severity" learning challenges, Craig Pohlman presents a readily accessible, highly practical framework and set of tools for those who are "curious about the root causes of a struggling student's learning challenges." And his clear explanations and illustrations may well turn curiosity into a passion for understanding every learner's assets and challenges and delivering messages of optimism and empowerment.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

I needed help interpreting tests, reports, learning issues and cognitive development. This book was hugely readable and made neuroscience understandable -- how to evaluate learning issues comprehensible.

[Elizabeth A.]

I'm hoping to understand Jeremy's dyslexia and how his right-brain needs to learn.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved being able to dig into the brain a little more to be able to answer the many questions I have about student learning.

[CML OSU]

CML
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[Kristine · Rating 1 out of 5]

abandoned