Learning expeditions capture students' interest through challenge, adventure, service, and real-world projects. As students become more invested in their work, their test scores tend to rise and disciplinary problems decrease. The design's professional development provides teachers not only with the instructional practices they need to deepen student learning, but also the opportunity for personal and professional rejuvenation. It also offers school leaders suggestions on how to make the structural changes that will support the design and a set of benchmarks to help them assess their schools' progress. The design breaks down the walls that have traditionally separated schools and the community.
Students go out into the community to perform fieldwork and service.
They conduct neighborhood surveys and present their findings to city councils and planning boards. They host seminars for the public to share their research on the Tuskegee Airmen or the Kennedy assassination. They help rehabilitate public parks and river systems and write biographies of local senior citizens. Through these real-world projects, they learn the habits of civic responsibility. In turn, community members are invited into classrooms to act as expert resources for learning expeditions.