workshops

Integrated Curriculum/Interdisciplinary
Teamed Instruction (cont'd)

Educators are working in an era of accountability. They must show evidence that their students are achieving in ways that lead to productive citizenship and increased academic achievement. Specific content standards now indicate what students must know and do at each grade level. However, educators know that when they simply cover standards, students are not necessarily motivated to learn. They often feel there is no time to set instruction in a relevant context.

Integrated curriculum has a history or being relevant and vibrant. Popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s as a method to increase motivation, it almost disappeared with the advent of the standards movement. Yet, renewed interest is apparent as many educators now see the potential of integration. In the 2004 ASCD publication, Meeting Standards through Integrated Curriculum, Susan Drake and Rebecca Burns provide data-based evidence of the success of integrated curriculum across North America along with rigorous and relevant approaches and implementation strategies. (< Back)