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The Thinking Behind Bridges |
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Bridges programs develop the intelligences needed for academic success in students of all ages. It’s based on the groundbreaking work of Dr. J.P. Guilford. In the early 1940s, Dr. Guilford, then a University of Southern California psychology professor, proved that there are multiple intelligence abilities. His psychometric research throughout the 40s, 50s, and 60s mapped out the Structure of Intellect (SOI), a model that identifies 90 different intellectual abilities.
In the 60s, Dr. Mary Meeker proved that intelligence is not fixed at birth, and can be nurtured at any age. Looking at Dr. Guilford’s work, she hypothesized that if there are multiple, discrete intelligence abilities, we should be able to nurture each of them, so that over time we can measure the increase in ability. Her subsequent work with both school children and adults proved her hypothesis.
The team of Dr. Mary Meeker and Dr. Robert Meeker created the first research-based cognitive and perceptual exercises proven to exploit brain plasticity and thereby build up the multiple, discrete intelligence abilities over time.
The Bridges program is built around the Guilford/Meeker Structure of Intellect paradigm, which has been proven and replicated by more than 50 years of research and application.
From 1964 to the present, SOI assessments and instructional materials have been the foundation on which thousands of teachers have established classroom-based reform.
For years, teachers have adapted Meeker and Meeker’s SOI to develop student cognitive abilities on a pupil-by pupil basis. Today, faced with sweeping cognitive diversity in every classroom, teachers seek a group based, site-managed SOI design that can develop age/developmental-level cognition in all students. |
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