In 2011, the directors of the Phoenix Symphony came up with a bold plan to improve and expand their community outreach programs. Inspired by the growing movement to integrate the arts with the other subjects in the K-12 curriculum, they created a thriving program called Mind Over Music, which pairs professional musicians with local elementary…

The real focus of this unique interdisciplinary social science master's program is helping local people become involved in finding solutions to local problems. (Author)

A group consisting of department coordinators, the director of the library media center, the chairperson of the guidance department, a building administrator, and members of the teaching staff work with a carefully selected group of career-oriented seniors on an independent study program. (Author/IRT)

In 1973, the founding administrator of a Long Island high school proposed adoption of a student advisory system, team teaching in the humanities, and no academic department chairs. Convinced that having chairs diminished teachers' stature, this principal successfully encouraged teachers to work together to develop curriculum, prepare budgets, hire…

Debunks notion that someone can teach for nine months and then start learning in a two-week summer institute. Describes a Seattle project that is demolishing teaching/learning barriers by allowing English and history teachers to meet monthly for an entire day to read and discuss literary and historical works and plan an interdisciplinary…

To circumvent typical public schooling restrictions, an upstate New York middle school established a Lab School that functions outside the regular program. Lab School aims to provide practice in intellectual inquiry, delve into complex, demanding topics, create an interdisciplinary, problem-oriented curriculum, and experiment with assessment…

The multi-age teams (MATs) at one Georgia middle school fostered continuous, individual student progress unachievable in more conventional classrooms. In MAT groups, assignments to classes were based on students' interests, abilities, performance, and other maturational factors, regardless of chronological age. Opportunities for remediation and…

Two teacher participants in a Georgia multi-age project offer principles for effective middle-school practice. Teachers should include kinesthetic activities and the arts; believe in every student's learning potential; make learning fun and engaging; use interdisciplinary and thematic approaches; assess their progress; and create learning…