| Group I: Cooperative Efforts | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Case | Title | Type of School(s) | Teaching Areas | Description |
| 1 | Let's Get Started | Comprehensive High School | English Librarian Vocational | In order to eliminate the general track, a career exploration activity which would focus on integrating vocational and academic education was implemented. Ninth graders performed research and interviews to learn about the requirements for various occupations. An oral presentation was given in English class. |
| 2 | Teachers Teaching Teachers: Can It Work? | High School Vocational/ Technical Center | English
Business Cosmetology Welding | Reading- and writing-in-the-content-area strategies were presented as inservice sessions. The sessions were well-received at the high school, but were met with some hostility at the technical center. The vocational teachers said the examples given at the workshop did not relate to what they did in class. |
| 3 | Don't Step on My Toes | Magnet School for Technical Occupations | English Electronics Business Home Economics | The principal's announcement that vocational and academic teachers would form teams to align curriculum so student communication skills would be improved provoked negativity among most faculty. Many were resistant to change and several felt that they should have been involved in formulating the initial plan. |
| 4 | Commitment Makes the Difference | High Schools Vocational/Technical Centers | Physics Mathematics Electronics | An interdisciplinary team attended a regional workshop on integration and developed plans for many integrated activities, using team teaching and class switching approaches. The integration activities were successful, and teachers were enthusiastic. |
| 5 | The Importance of Terminology | High School | Physical Science
Machine Tool Operations | The vocational teacher and the science teacher planned a team teaching activity involving a demonstration of science concepts in the machine tools laboratory. The vocational teacher was intimidated because her terminology was less sophisticated than the academic teacher's. |
| 6 | Different Courses, Different Students, Different Teaching | Magnet School for Technical Occupations | Language Arts
Math Science Instrumentation Technology | A new English teacher was assigned to a cluster comprised of a vocational, language arts, mathematics, and science teacher, as well as a guidance counselor. He learned about the vocational teaching role and he modified his own teaching to be more relevant to the world of work. |
| 7 | Shifting from "Us and Them" to "We" | Comprehensive High School | English
Drafting Math | After a troubled start on a freshman project, "Navigating the Workplace," the media specialist complained to the principal that more preparatory planning was needed. A meeting among vocational and academic teachers was organized to develop step-by-step objectives. Problems were resolved and everyone's enthusiasm mounted. |
| 8 | Coordination Gone Awry | Comprehensive High School | English
Vocational Assistant Principal | The first year that students collected information about their vocational specialties and prepared videotape presentations in English class was a success. Poor coordination between English and vocational teachers during the following year led to frustration and complaints to the assistant principal. |
| 9 | The Applied Approach Makes All the Difference | Comprehensive High School | Math
Vocational | A team of teachers, perceived as leaders by their vocational and academic colleagues, was formed and sent to a national conference on integration. Upon returning, the team wrote applied curriculum activities that could be implemented by all teachers. When the activities were presented during staff development sessions, faculty members were enthusiastic. |
| 10 | Sharing with Parents | Comprehensive High School | Guidance Counselors
Vocational & Academic Teachers | A special conference day when parents could meet with vocational and academic teams to discuss their children's futures was planned by the guidance counselors. Local newspapers, radio, and television helped promote the conference day which turned out to be an overwhelming success. |
| 11 | Teacher Cooperation Leads to Learning Enrichment | Comprehensive High School | Math, Science
Vocational English Guidance | Vocational teachers share real-life examples of math use with at-risk students and have students write in the content area. These assignments led to opportunities for cooperative efforts among teachers, the most successful being a senior program for preparing career-related research papers. |
| 12 | Reinforcing Academics | Comprehensive High School | Guidance Counselors
Auto Mechanics | A counselor explained to other counselors from the school district how an auto mechanics teacher emphasized the importance of doing well in academic classes. His students' discipline improved after they began to become more serious about classes, especially when he convinced them of the importance of math and reading for job success. |
| Group II: Curriculum Strategies | ||||
| Case | Title | Type of School(s) | Teaching Areas | Description |
| 13 | The Turning Point | Vocational/Technical Center | Engineering
Architectural Drafting English | Students in the drafting class saw little point to their journal assignments; however, after a speaker from the business community said she wrote in her journal every day, the students took a greater interest in their journals. Students' motivation increased for other writing assignments in English classes as well. |
| 14 | Confusion Reigns | Comprehensive High School | English
Vocational | English and vocational teachers worked together to implement a freshman career project. A reluctant English teacher complained about not being given extra planning time to coordinate the project. Procedures for completing the project were confusing to the teachers and they felt they needed a coordinator. |
| 15 | Was It Miscommunication or Inexperience? | Comprehensive High School | Electronics
Physics | An electronics teacher and a physics teacher coordinated efforts so that instruction of electronics material in the physics class coincided with the introduction received in the electronics class. Unfortunately, the electronics teacher felt that the level of information in the physics class was too theoretical and that he preferred to teach the material himself. |
| 16 | Teaming To Develop a Textbook | Comprehensive High School | Math
Electronics | A math teacher helped teach basic mathematical computations to an electrical class at the request of the teacher. One outcome of their working together was the development of a specialized textbook that helped students who otherwise may have failed. |
| 17 | Hands-On Experience Versus Class Attendance | Comprehensive High School | Broadcast Journalism | A broadcast journalism teacher developed a program for students to obtain hands-on experience taping and editing. Academic teachers were resentful that sometimes these students had to be excused from their classes to obtain this experience. |
| 18 | Should They Pull Them Out? | Vocational/Technical Center | Occupational Child Care
English Math | Students needing help with academic subjects were pulled out of the occupational child care class and missed important instruction. At the same time, the English and math courses were not coordinated to match the skills students needed for their vocational fields. |
| 19 | Making Math More Relevant | Comprehensive High School | Math
Electronics | A math teacher taught math to electronics students so that they saw real applications for the math they feared. The math and electronics teachers felt the program was successful and wanted to continue it, but scheduling for the next school year may not allow it. |
| 20 | Time for Change | Comprehensive High School | Communication Technology
English | An industrial arts teacher was skeptical of integration and the career project the students were doing. With time, he saw the relevance and the success of the project and was pleased with its results. |
| 21 | Building a Better Mouse Trap (Car) | Comprehensive High School | Physics
Construction | The physics and construction students were grouped into teams to build a car based on principles learned and individual skills. The project was fun and educational but required more time and effort than the teachers had planned for. They did not make plans to team teach again. |
| 22 | The Business of Learning | Comprehensive High School | Marketing
English Biology | At-risk students were selected to form their own business enterprise to develop and market a product. Teachers felt that if students could feel more a part of the school, they would be more committed to their work. The students were very successful and became excited about school. |
| 23 | Getting Back on Track | High School | English | Students who failed freshman English during the school year attended an intensive summer course. The students were excited and successful when the academic course was related to their vocational interests. |
| Group III: Instructional Strategies | ||||
| Case | Title | Type of School(s) | Teaching Areas | Description |
| 24 | The Student Does the Teaching | High School
Vocational/Technical Center | Applied Math
Auto Mechanics | Without knowing practical uses of equipment, a math teacher tried to use the equipment to teach math concepts. The math teacher got help from a student and an auto mechanics teacher who was initially intimidated by the math teacher's book knowledge. |
| 25 | But, It Takes Time | Comprehensive High School | Business
English | A business teacher had difficulty cooperating with an English teacher on integrating activities for her class. The business teacher felt that her class was disrupted by the integration and that she was making all of the concessions. |
| 26 | The Formula for Interest | Comprehensive High School | Math
Computer Applications | A math teacher and a computer applications teacher realized they were teaching the same concepts. They decided to coordinate their efforts. The math teacher introduced concepts and the computer applications teacher reviewed the concepts. |
| 27 | Letter Writing in the Auto Mechanics Lab | Comprehensive High School | Auto Mechanics
English | An auto mechanics teacher, after receiving help from an English teacher, used business letter writing to review a safety unit. The students worked together in groups and exchanged information among themselves. The exercise was successful but students did not feel confident submitting the letters in English class. |
| 28 | Mathematics in the Pre-Engineering Laboratory | Vocational/Technical Center | Math
Pre-Engineering | A math teacher taught pre-engineering students how to use technical math for a practical exercise they were finding difficult. |
| 29 | The Community Can Be a Valuable Resource | Comprehensive High School | English
Business | English and business teachers worked together to have eleventh graders prepare research papers that dealt with their vocational interests. The teachers found that they needed cooperation from the business community for up-to-date information. |
| 30 | Diabetics in the Classroom | Comprehensive High School | Math
Health Occupations | The math and health occupations teachers designed integrated activities to teach math students about diabetes and the use of math calculations for a diabetic. The students were excited and shared what they had learned with others. |
| 31 | Interviewing Skills | Comprehensive High School | Business
Math | Business teachers who were trying to develop interviewing skills worked with math teachers to hold mock interviews with students. All involved were frustrated by the activity. |
| 32 | Teaching Writing Skills to Horticulture Students | Comprehensive High School | English
Horticulture | An English teacher and a horticulture teacher worked together on an assignment requiring horticulture students to write a research paper for their English classes. The English teacher had mixed feelings about the success of the project. The papers often fell below his expectations. |
| 33 | A Science Teacher Learns About Computers | Comprehensive High School | Physics
Computers | A physics teacher and computer teacher worked together to integrate computers into the physics classroom. The teacher was not afraid to let her students know that she didn't know what they were learning. |
| 34 | Anxiety in the Computer Laboratory | Comprehensive High School | English
Computers | An English teacher was aided by a computer teacher in teaching students word processing in the computer lab. The English teacher moved from being anxious to presenting information effectively on her own because of the computer teacher's cooperation. |
| 35 | Don't Say Trigonometry | Comprehensive High School | Engineering
Math | An engineering teacher worked with a math teacher in determining how to teach trigonometry to his students, with about half not having studied beyond basic algebra. Calculations concerning kite flying became a trigonometry lesson for these students. |
| 36 | Parasites in the Fish Tanks | Comprehensive High School | Agriculture
Science | Agriculture and science students worked together on a project to identify and treat fish parasites. The students got to see practical applications for the science principles they had learned in the classroom. |
| Group IV: Administrative Practices and Procedures | ||||
| Case | Title | Type of School(s) | Teaching Areas | Description |
| 37 | What We Have Here Is a Communication Problem | Comprehensive High School | All areas | The principal and assistant principals at the high school spent time discussing and planning the integration of vocational and academic education without involving the entire faculty in the process. |
| 38 | If at First You Don't Succeed | Comprehensive High School | All areas | Teachers had difficulty with integration because of limited time and no team planning. The principal decided to hire teacher aids and provided common planning times for the teachers who were in teams. |
| 39 | Dealing with the Skeptics | Comprehensive High School | All areas | The principal wanted to integrate vocational and academic education to better meet the needs of the student population. Academic teachers were skeptical of her plan and feared that the school would become a vocational high school. |
| 40 | Promises Never Kept | Magnet School for Technical Occupations | Horticulture
English Physics | Teachers were reorganized into cluster groups to work together on integration and were excited about the changes being made. They spent time preparing a curriculum book, and when nothing was done with it by the administration, the luster of the project wore off. |
| 41 | Team Teaching: What Made It All Possible? | Comprehensive High School | Auto Mechanics
Physics | Two teachers were concerned about the concept of integration and the effects it would have on their individual classes. They were paired up for the possibility of integrating physics and automotive instruction. They received support from their principal and successfully team-taught an applied physics course. |
| 42 | When Are They Really Going to Involve the Faculty? | Vocational/Technical Center | All areas | An assistant superintendent for vocational and adult education made plans for integration without involving the faculty in the planning. The teachers were resentful and the plan progressed unsuccessfully. |
| 43 | This Will Ruin Our School | Vocational/Technical Center | All areas | The director of the Center initiated a program for integration. The teachers were grouped in technical clusters, and the director felt that the integration was progressing successfully. Just before her report to the Center's board, a teacher expressed concern and skepticism about integration and threatened to file a grievance. |
| 44 | Organizing for Teacher Cooperation | Magnet School for Technical Occupations | All areas | The integration process had been successful but one teacher expressed the concern that teachers need to work together on integration on a daily and weekly basis for added success, rather than only at the monthly scheduled meeting. |
| 45 | Is There a Leader in the House? | Comprehensive High School | English
Vocational | A skeptical teacher was chosen to coordinate the cooperative effort. He was frustrated by varying degrees of cooperation among the teachers and by the fact that no supervisor was assigned to the project by the principal's office. The teachers felt shortchanged by the whole affair. |
| 46 | A Heart-to-Heart Talk | Comprehensive High School | All areas | A principal made a scheduling error that caused lack of coordination among teachers, embarrassed a new teacher, and cost the students a positive learning experience. |