Other models for the proposed school include increased use of hands-on active learning instead of the traditional reliance on the passive learning-by-lecture model and rote memorization of facts from textbooks. Technology would be integrated in two specific ways: (1) the use of electronic media and computers to increase interest and learning in traditional academic areas; and (2) with the goal of providing practical training in the use of technology systems and the development of high-tech skills that are necessary for professional success and that also ensure the continued academic success in higher education or immediate employability after high school graduation where appropriate. Activity Plan, Physical Organization, Discipline, and Play: The envisioned program would implement the Multiple Intelligences approach to academic learning in the manner described and successfully demonstrated by Gardner (2000). Because the school would emphasize early exposure to substantive lessons presented through intelligence-type-specific modules, the physical organization would be designed to facilitate equal attention to non-traditional modes of instruction such as those typically reserved for nature and science labs within traditional...

Similarly, the optimal implementation of hands-on active learning modules also requires minor physical organizational changes conducive to the success of such approaches on a wider scale (Adams and Hamm, 1994). Finally, among the many advantages of the Multiple Intelligences methods are that, to a large degree, it minimizes the need for traditional "recess" and increases student interest and cooperation in comparison to the traditional educational environment (Gardner, 1993). Unfortunately, the ideal school envisioned strongly contradicts the current presidential administration and its conviction that standardized testing and (in effect) a virtual exclusive focus on the improvement of low-achieving students to the detriment of all other students. Specifically, the ideal school would all but eliminate the use of standardized tests, particularly in the performance evaluation of educational programs, educators, and schools. The envisioned school is the diametric opposite of the NCLB program because Multiple Intelligences, active learning, and a focus on practical knowledge of technology is the antithesis of motivation by standardized test performance.
Bibliography

Adams, D. & Hamm, M. (1994). New Designs for Teaching and Learning: Promoting

Active Learning in Tomorrow's Schools. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Gardner, H. (1993). Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences. New York:

Basic Books. Gardner, H. (2000). The Disciplined Mind: Beyond Facts and Standardized Tests: The K-12 Education That Every Child Deserves. New York: Penguin Putnam.