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The Base of Experience of Ford PAS Next Generation Learning

Over the past two decades, Ford Motor Company Fund has developed and tested four complementary initiatives to support education transformation, which have been embraced by both business and educational institutions around the United States. To create these programs, Ford drew on research and partnered with leaders in workforce and economic development, education reform, school redesign, the development of professional communities, and the integration of academic and career and technical education. These four major initiatives are now being drawn together under the banner of Ford PAS Next Generation Learning.

The first effort was the Ford Academy of Manufacturing Sciences (FAMS), an early school-to-work program that was recognized by the national School-to-Work Opportunities Act as a model program. FAMS, which was focused on manufacturing, linked classroom learning to applications in the real world, with a focus on critical workplace skills, such as problem-solving, teamwork, communication, and critical thinking. FAMS was adopted by hundreds of sites around the nation over the course of its lifetime.