Giving Compass' Take:

• Stony Brook School uses interdisciplinary, project-based learning styles to teach students complex subjects and encourage high-level critical thinking.

• This program is successful in keeping students engaged and deepening their understanding. However, what are the challenges to replicate it across an entire district?

• Read about how to succeed with project-based learning.

A group of about 40 sixth graders at Stony Brook School here has been trying to figure out when and where the next earthquake will hit outside of North America. The students researched continental plates and convection currents; they practiced graphing earthquake magnitudes; they looked at case studies in China, Japan and Nepal and considered how people adapt to an earthquake-prone environment; and, ultimately, they had to make their case, in writing, for why they expect the next earthquake to hit when and where they say it will, backing up their hypothesis with a well-reasoned argument and evidence.

This single assignment asks students to master science, math, history and language arts standards, which is par for the course for these sixth graders. Their school schedules don’t make distinctions among the four core subjects, which are co-taught by two teachers in an interdisciplinary, project-based environment.

After piloting it last year, the public middle school expanded the concept to seventh grade, too, though it looks a little different with the older students. Instead of staying with the same two teachers in the same room for most of the day, students have one teacher for a combined science and math class and another for a humanities class that brings language arts and social studies together.

In this high-performing, wealthy district, project-based learning isn’t seen as a way to engage struggling students or close glaring achievement gaps, as it is in some places. Christopher Chew, Stony Brook’s principal, sees it as a way for kids to practice higher-order thinking skills prized in the 21st century economy.

Read the full article about project-based learning by Tara Garcia Mathewson at The Hechinger Report.