Part one: Frameworks for Connecting Curriculum. Participants will examine the historical and contemporary settings for making curriculum connections, practical concerns such as working with colleagues, scheduling, and communicating with parents. Assignments will provide practical applications for education. Participants will analyze, apply and adapt frameworks to a curriculum integration project that could be studied through action research. Part Two: Action Research on Connecting Curriculum. Participants directly involved in the school settings formulate significant questions that invite exploration of profession growth. Participants write action research questions, establish qualitative data gathering techniques, organize and interpret data, and draw conclusions that will affect their connecting curriculum work directly. Part Three: Assessing Connected Curriculum. Participants' questions important to connected curriculum about working with colleagues and parents, rubrics and grading. Direct, practical assistance will be provided to help teachers maintain academic challenge and important content. Participants will delve into evaluating students and programs developed to "make school more like real life."  Prerequisites: Admissions will be handled through Curriculum and Instruction. A participant in any part must be will to attend all Connecting the Curriculum meetings in addition to course participation. (Similar arrangement as Fox Valley Writing Project course Elementary Education/Secondary Education 725 Teaching of Writing.) Most participants will enroll as a team from their district. Most participants will register for three credits. Participants with experience with curriculum frameworks may wish to register for two credits and attend parts 2 & 3. Students will an exploratory interest in CTC and limited time may register for 1 credit and attend Part 1. Students who register for less than three credits will agree on an attendance and assignment plan prior to the first class meeting.

Elem Ed/Sec Ed 791 -Class participants will study readings about action research and analyze reports of completed action research projects. Participants will develop and carry out individual or collaborative projects in their schools which focus on the improvement of their practice, their understanding of their practice, or the situations in which they work. Class readings will include information about action research, examples of research studies conducted by teachers and other school practitioners, and readings focusing on the major areas addressed by the research projects. The course may be taken repeatedly with students registering for part one during the summer semester and part two during the spring semester.

Elem Ed/Sec Ed 792 - An integrating experience where the student synthesizes the "core" and other courses of the program into a product related to the student's target career choice.