Integrating Academic and Brilliant Star Objectives

Project Coordinator: W. Huitt
Last revised: July 2007

The need for educators and parents to focus on helping children and youth develop more than just academic skills is widely accepted; the question is how. The pressure to do well on standardized tests places a major burden on teachers and students, leaving no time for "frills". Just as importantly, there is disagreement among some of the most important influences on children and youth as to how to proceed. The following units provide lesson plans that integrate learning activities that focus on basic academic skills with those that take a more holistic view of identifying important knowledge, attitudes, and skills.

The Brilliant Star framework was used to identify important desired outcomes of schooling and education; it proposes three core elements and ten domains for consideration. The central theme is that those involved in the development of children and youth need to consider a holistic approach, including multiple factors that contribute to successful adulthood.