The North Central Regional Educational Laboratory is developing a multifaceted School Development Resource System. Integrated Learning Systems. Most ILSs are essentially electronic basals that use traditional tasks, assessments, student and teacher roles, and approaches to instruction. ILSs are designed to provide lessons and assessments that target the basic skills required by traditional school objectives. ILSs are popular, in part, because they provide lessons, extensive teacher manuals, and assessments that are aligned with each other.
Some programs are interdisciplinary and include multimedia encyclopedias.
Jostens Basic Learning Systems is one example. Jostens produces numerous profiles of successful implementations, most of which show gains on standardized tests. For example, in several collaborative projects, students study and manipulate actual images from NASA and communicate with practicing scientists using the Internet. It is important for schools to distinguish between ILSs and more open systems. Many schools that have an ILS believe that, because it is a high-performance technology, ILS will promote engaged learning and will provide access to rich resources.