CART

=The Center for Advanced Research and Technology=

The Center for Advanced Research and Technology ([|CART]) is an award winning Project Based Learning high school in Fresno, CA. CART was recognized in 2005 by the US Department of Education as an exemplary high school based upon 6 years of outstanding student achievement.

CART is a high tech school serving students from the Fresno and Clovis school districts. It's curriculum is organized around career labs. ResulTech President, Pat Wright, was the former CEO of CART and work with CART's teachers to create their unique program.

The next two paragraphs come from the CART website:

"The Center for Advanced Research and Technology is is the most comprehensive, state-of-the-art education reform effort at the secondary level to date. The CART combines rigorous academics with technical, design, process, entrepreneurial, and critical thinking skills.

"CART provides a state-of-the-art research and technology facility where students design and complete projects in collaboration with partners from the local, national, and international business community. Through learning plans, individualized attention, and a coordinated sequence of projects, CART students explore the variety of ways they can achieve their career goals."

Eleventh and twelfth grade students from the Clovis and Fresno Unified School Districts are bused to CART where they attend half-day classes in one of the laboratories taught by teams of instructors from both education and business. Instead of teaching their curriculum as separate subjects, they cut up the curriculum and teach it through projects that integrate the curriculum. Each of these "labs" have a different high-interest focus. Their [|labs] include:
 * Interactive Game Design
 * Multimedia
 * Network Management
 * Computer Science
 * Forensic Research
 * Biomedicine
 * Environmental Science
 * Economics & Finance
 * Marketing & Advertising
 * Law & Policy
 * Architectural Design
 * Bioengineering
 * Product Development
 * Robotics

For example, “Students in the McCormick Barstow Law & Policy Lab examine the American legal system and its impact on every American’s life. They explore the current state of the law and forecast the changes that will occur in their lifetime. America’s influence on global legal issues is also considered.” Students earn credits in English 11 or 12, American Government/Economics, Law and Order and Public Policy, and CART Technology Applications. Here are some of things that students get to do during this lab:
 * Argue a case before the CART Supreme Court
 * Participate in a Town Hall Meeting
 * Work with professionals and mentors in the community
 * Take part in a mock criminal trial
 * Advocate for change in the law

This school has been terrifically successful, even with hard to teach students and is a model that clearly was the catalyst for the ResulTech School Model.

Articles and Further Information:
[|School Profile of CART]

The Education Innovator: [|THE CENTER FOR ADVANCED RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY PUTS STUDENTS ON FAST TO ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL TRACK]

[|PROJECT-BASED LEARNING]

The Schools We Need Project
//Because some students need more than direct instruction.//

The Schools We Need Project is a joint project of the [|Maine Center for Meaningful Engaged Learning] at the [|University of Maine at Farmington] and [|ResulTech Educational Services]