You may want to send a letter to parents informing them of this MI project and requesting their support. This is a good opportunity to begin to educate them as well on MI with the materials in the workbook and to encourage them to participate. You may also want to request information about the parents' type of work and if they would consider coming into the class for an hour to discuss their occupation with the students. This would be an excellent way to introduce each intelligence.
The MIDAS-KIDS questionnaire is designed to be self completed by most students in third grade (with assistance) and above with approximately a 4th grade reading level. Parents complete the "My Young Child" version for younger students. However, you may wish to conduct a diagnostic interview with certain students of any age. An interview takes approximately one hour. This is an excellent way to gather qualitative information and obtain a detailed understanding of the child's self-perceptions. Questions are phrased in such a way that many times the child initially answers with a Yes or No response. The interviewer can then ask for a finer discrimination and selection of response choices. Young children or those with limited conceptual skills or Intrapersonal awareness may have difficulty making fine discriminations required by the questions. This is an opportunity for the teacher to involve the parents in the assessment and to focus on strategies to increase the student's Intrapersonal awareness.
Completion Time
Most students complete the questionnaire in between 20 to 30 minutes. You may want to break administration into two 20 minute sections or allow students who need more time to work on it later. Completion during class time is preferable since you will be able to monitor any disruptions to the process and answer questions. This also under scores the importance of the procedure so students do not take it too lightly.
Reading Level
The MIDAS-KIDS questionnaire is written at about the 4 - 5th grade reading level but third grade children have been found to be able to read it without much difficulty under supervision. Some students with reading difficulties will require individual administration. The MIDAS for adolescents and adults is written at the sixth grade reading level.
Kindergarten through second grade
Parents will complete the "My Young Child" version of the MIDAS-KIDS questionnaire and return it within a week. The child may or may not be involved in a self-assessment depending upon the situation and the goals.
Third and fourth grade
Parents may complete the "My View" questionnaire for third grade students or students themselves may complete The MIDAS in the classroom as the teacher reads each question aloud and students follow along. In this way, students may ask questions and problems can be addressed by the teacher. Parents may also be asked to complete the "My Child" questionnaire if a comparison is desired and the teacher is prepared to manage a discussion of the different profiles. Fourth grade teachers may use their judgment in deciding if students are able to silently complete the questionnaire independently or if parents should be the respondents.
Fifth through eighth grade
These students may complete the “All About Me” questionnaire during class time, silently and independently unless of course there are learning, reading or behavioral problems that would interfere with this process. There are always a few students who because of negative attitude towards school will fail to complete the questionnaire in a forthright manner. This needs to be noted during the interpretation process.
Ninth grade and up
The TEEN-MIDAS is best for high school students while The MIDAS is appropriate for college students and adults. TEEN-MIDAS is essentially the same questionnaire as The MIDAS except that several questions have been slightly modified to focus the wording on adolescent activities.
You may read the following directions aloud verbatim or modify them somewhat to best fit with your style and the class.