Schools that are successfully implementing the
EIC Model™ employ:

Local Natural and Community Surroundings as Context
The school's EIC educators:
A. Use local natural and community surroundings as a context for interconnecting all of the educational practices of the EIC Model™ into a comprehensive school improvement strategy; and,
B. Use local natural and community surroundings as a context for standards-based instruction.

Natural and Social Systems
The school's EIC educators:
A. Develop students' understanding of natural systems in their community;
B. Develop students' understanding of social systems and their community's cultural characteristics; and,
C. Develop students' understanding of interrelationships and interactions among natural and social systems and their components.

Community-based Investigations
The school's EIC educators:
A. Offer students opportunities to apply skills and knowledge in local surroundings;
B. Provide students with opportunities to investigate real-world community problems and issues;
C. Encourage use of higher-level thinking and creative problem-solving skills to achieve comprehensive understanding of the complexity of real-world problems and issues involving the interaction of their natural surroundings with diverse cultural, economic, and political perspectives and interests; and,
D. Provide students with opportunities to pursue authentic issues of personal interest to them.

Integrated, Interdisciplinary Instruction
The school's EIC educators:
A. Provide students with opportunities to explore connections between subject area disciplines and, among natural and social systems;
B. Coordinate students' learning between subject areas and class periods; and,
C. Cross traditional disciplinary boundaries to develop comprehensive understanding of natural and social systems.

Service-Learning
The school's EIC educators:
A. Support students as they undertake and monitor service-learning activities;
B. Require students to reflect on their service-learning activities and communicate their findings to classmates, teachers and other appropriate audiences both inside and outside of their community; and,
C. Creates a continuum of learning that crosses grade levels and allows students to conduct multi-year research and service-learning projects that contribute to their community.

Collaborative Instruction
The school's EIC educators:
A. Involve students and community members in planning and instructional delivery;
B. Provide opportunities for teachers to model positive team relationships; and,
C. Allow teachers to have regularly scheduled team meetings.

Learner-centered, Constructivist Approaches
The school's EIC educators:
A. Take into account students' individual learning styles, multiple intelligences and cultural background to insure effective instructional design and practices in the context of the local community;
B. Assist students as they initiate self-directed courses of study;
C. Allow students to construct their own understandings; and,
D. Support students as they define specific learning goals and objectives.

Cooperative and Independent Learning
The school's EIC educators:
A. Facilitate students as they form teams to work on projects and investigations;
B. Assure that student teams include a wide range of learning styles and ability levels; and,
C. Help students develop group membership skills.