The integrated curriculum project: Teacher change and student outcomes within a university–school professional development collaboration

Abstract

Abstract This observational study examined changes in teachers' instruction and student outcomes in response to a 3‐year‐long professional development collaboration between university researchers and a middle‐school language arts team. Professional development supported teachers in implementing multimedia anchored instruction, a video‐based instructional method shown to be effective for diverse learners. The Integrated Curriculum Project (ICP‐3) used multimedia anchored instruction to promote constructivist reform and infuse technology into an integrated social studies and language arts curriculum to improve literacy and critical thinking skills for at‐risk adolescents, including students with disabilities and those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Findings revealed that teachers moved toward a more learner‐centered instructional approach and that both teachers and students made significant changes in classroom behaviors, including the quantity and quality of questions and time spent in small‐group discussion. Implications for research and practice regarding sustained, collaborative professional development in technology integration, in this case, using multimedia anchored instruction, are presented. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.