Chapter 11: How an Integrated Unit Increased Student Achievement in a High School Pds

This chapter is a case study of one team of teachers at a high school Professional Development School (PDS), who in the spring of 2000 implemented an integrated unit with their sophomore students. The purpose of this case study was to (a) explore the impact of an integrated unit and interdisciplinary teaming on the achievement of students, and (b) analyze the experiences of teaming for the faculty involved. The integrated unit theme was organized from an essential ecology question, “What Happens to the Stuff We Don’t Want?” This question emerged from a team brainstorming session with university faculty involved in a partnership grant tied to PDS work. Teachers and collaborating university faculty decided that the unit topic would involve authentic performance tasks and would reflect student “choice” of topics in relation to the unit’s essential question that would interest, engage and inspire students. Our findings in this study are that student attendance, student behavior, and student grades improved as a result of the project. Our fear is that teachers will continue to be distracted from the mission of helping all students succeed and in working together as colleagues because of (a) the time demands on excellent teachers inside and outside the classroom, (b) the excessive and exhausting demands of preparing students for high stakes assessments that do not emphasize integrated curricular approaches, and (c) scheduling and other structural barriers that discourage teaming.