Indiana's declining SAT scores prompted the publisher of a statewide magazine covering the literary, performing, and visual arts to take action and create a program to use the magazine as a supplemental resource for students. It was believed that such a supplemental resource could enhance critical thinking and writing skills and help raise SAT…

This report describes the effect of integrating math and science and employing technology to bridge the gap. The targeted population consisted of primary and secondary students in a diverse, blue-collar, rural community located in northeast central Illinois. The problem of low-test scores and errors on assignments in mathematics was evident and…

The purpose of this doctoral thesis was to investigate some of the major issues, principles, and practices in education and music education to provide direction in planning and implementing more realistic and comprehensive music programming at the elementary level. The inquiry into current educational trends outside of the specialized area of…

This report provides a practical guide for teachers, including a review of literature related to the integration of science and language arts, guidelines and methodologies to aid the practitioner in the integration of science and language arts, and an organizational matrix for teacher-designed integrated curricula. A review of literature reveals…

An interdisciplinary approach to teaching English and religion can eliminate some of the educational problems posed by each subject. Part one of this thesis presents a philosophy of education which suggests that confluent and student-centered methods of teaching can best develop creativity and, thus, lead to greater humanization of students. Part…

This study compares a traditional method of social studies teaching to a literature based approach. The study sought to compare student attitude, achievement, and retention of the material presented. The study involved 37 fifth-graders, one class using a literature based approach and the other traditional textbook teaching. Content objectives for…

This master's project contains two essays and a long poem, examining the possibilities of creative writing as a tool of inquiry in mathematics, history, science, film, art, and architecture. The project's first essay, "The Poet in the Warehouse," introduces a brief history of imaginative writing and an argument for its inclusion in…

This study designed a music program for improving academic skills of first grade students after the teaching staff found the students doing average work in the classroom. The school involved in the study was located in an urban, middle class community in Northern Illinois. Results of standardized tests showed the extent of the academic problems of…

This action research project sought to increase motivation in second- and fourth-grade students in an urban Midwestern school. Achievement and skill measures as well as observations indicated a lack of student participation and interest. Three areas of intervention were implemented: cross-curricular activities to heighten student interest,…