When making study choices, students often find it challenging to identify their interests and strengths. Higher education (HE) systems that do not offer opportunities for reorientation and transfer run the risk of some students never completing their studies. This policy brief examines the different flexible pathways institutions can choose to…

A call for educational reform motivated this school system to devise an enhanced version of STEM in their middle school. This case provides rich descriptions of how eighth grade middle school teachers, from multiple disciplines, enacted a STEAM team model that integrated Language Arts into STEM. These STEAM team teachers were systematically…

The purpose of this study was to examine whether the use of a middle school flexible interdisciplinary block schedule would increase eighth-grade students' reading scores, as measured by the Oregon Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (OAKS). A 90-minute middle school flexible interdisciplinary block schedule served as the independent variable and…

Many educators have created successful innovative models but have had difficulty sustaining, re-creating, and scaling these models. Classrooms and schools characterized by student-centered learning practices typically deviate from the norms of transmission teaching and the many structures and procedures that David Tyack and Larry Cuban called the…

One of the mysteries of education reform is how leaders and educators can successfully instantiate, sustain, and spread student-centered pedagogical practices from a few schools to many others. Advocates for "deeper learning" grapple with this mystery as they seek to transform teaching and learning to prepare students to meet the demands…

A Nebraska high school implemented interdisciplinary teaming several years ago as a direct result of its strategic planning effort. It eventually rejected the intensified block schedule, which manipulated time without changing teacher roles, and adopted a flexible block schedule. Departments were replaced by interdisciplinary teams of teachers and…

Discusses the training and preparation for the transition to block scheduling. Provides a summary of some of the aspects of the four-by-four block schedule and describes strategies employed to modify instruction and curriculum. Includes two sample interdisciplinary activities. (DDR)

This document deals with the Images component of the Modular Achievement Program (MAP) at Bowling Green State University. The component was designed to organize, evaluate and utilize an understanding of the world. The program is described in relation to history and time constraints, goals, students, faculty, implementation and assumptions, general…

Four secondary teachers, long accustomed to working in isolation, joined forces to provide an interdisciplinary program with flexible scheduling and common planning periods. This article describes their school-within-a-school program, its acceptance by the Coalition of Essential Schools, and the program's benefits. A sidebar provides restructuring…

This report describes and evaluates the Humanities Cluster College (HCC), a part of the Modular Achievement Program (MAP) at Bowling Green University. This interdisciplinary program is described according to: rationale, specific aims, detailed description of the program, subjective evaluation, evaluative research, and recommendations. Related…

This cost study of the Modular Achievement Program at Bowling Green State University indicates expenditures for the 1972-73 academic year according to the state auditor's budgetary system for state universities of Ohio. Following an overview of the financial situation, emphasis is placed on indirect university contributions, instructional cost,…

Biggest obstacle to Eugene, Oregon's plans to integrate middle school curricula is finding time to enable staff to develop a common vision of the future to build upon. Despite adoption of a flexible scheduling pattern, more time is needed for staff development, training, and cooperative instructional unit development. Creating teaching teams to…

This document describes the Science Cluster College (SCC), a part of the Modular Achievement Program (MAP) at Bowling Green State University. The SCC offered a science seminar, survey courses, and laboratory work. The seminar emphasized creative aspects of scientific activity, the nature of scientific knowledge, inductive and deductive logic,…

This progress report describes the activities and summarizes the evaluation of the Modular Achievement Program (MAP) at Bowling Green State University for the 1972-73 academic year. Emphasis is placed on the general education component, the structure of MAP in its position within the University, a profile of the MAP student, student development,…

The interdisciplinary team organization allows teachers to allocate time to accommodate the curriculum and young adolescents' instructional needs. For maximum flexibility, several scheduling options may be considered: large-group instructional time, one less period daily, heterogeneous class grouping, and "top class" team scheduling. Advantages,…