Since October 1993, Rochester Memorial School has played both central and peripheral roles in support of research conducted by Project Zero. Rochester Memorial has graciously granted Project Zero researchers access to its students and faculty on several occasions over the years. As a result of this on-going relationship, RMS teachers began to identify and target instructional issues that warranted further investigation.

It seemed clear to RMS teachers that certain important concepts and processes are common to art, music, and language arts. They reasoned that part of making thinking and learning visible to students involves teaching students how to identify and strengthen interdisciplinary connections. So, the RMS teachers began to think about which connections they wanted to make. They decided to focus on making thinking-centered connections across the arts. The aim was to use on-going assessment and a project-based instructional approach to encourage the types of transfer that deepen students' understanding in the arts.

During the 1995-96 school year, without funding and without prompting from administration, the RMS team took its first steps toward developing curriculum that cut across the disciplines. Since then, TTAAP has become a formal, teacher-driven inquiry into how teaching for transfer deepens students' learning and understandings in music, and the visual and language arts.

Follow the project's timeline.

© Rochester Memorial Elementary School. Old Rochester Regional School Department. Rochester, MA 1999.
 

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