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8 Year Home
  8 Year Web Project
   About this
Project
Introduction
I Study
Launched
II Schools
Choose
III Curriculum-Needs
IV-Schools-Study-Pupils
V In College?
VI We Learned
Appendix
 Index
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The Eight Year Study,
considered by many educational researchers to be one of the best
program evaluation studies ever conducted, followed the students from
more than 30 experimental high schools during the 1930's. Although the
students from the experimental schools only did as well or slightly
better on standardized test scores than students from their traditional
counterparts, the students from the experimental schools showed many
improvements in other areas. The traditional separate subject approach
appeared to be the least effective for preparing students, even for
things that we'd always assumed it was best for. The most effect
schools used an approach which was very different, using content from
the disciplines of knowledge, but instead of organizing it by subjects,
organizing it around themes of significance to their students. This
approach was called Core Curriculum (this term now has a different
connotation) and is now often referred to as Curriculum Integration.
The study isn't well remembered, since it was
published in 1942 and the American mind was focused on other matters.
It continues to be of importance, however, to educators interested in
Curriculum Integration, as well as other areas. The study was published
in five volumes and educational scholars sometimes find it difficult to
find copies. The National Middle School Association explored
republishing at least the first volume (The Story of the Eight Year
Study), but decided that the project was cost prohibitive (and
instead published a wonderful companion book to the study). A more
affordable solution to making the study available to educators and
educational scholars is to republish the study on the Internet.
That is the goal of this project: to republish Aikin's The
Story of the Eight Year Study on the Internet.
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