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Georgia Department of Education awards STEM certification to Lanier High’s Center for Design and Technology

The Georgia Department of Education has awarded Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) certification to the Center for Design and Technology (CDAT) at Lanier High School in Gwinnett County.

 

Lanier is the ninth school in the state to be awarded the designation. David Turner, the department’s CTAE director, awarded the certification in a ceremony at the school last week.

 

“Programs like CDAT are exactly what Georgia’s students need – and what Georgia needs,” State School Superintendent John Barge said. “There is a continuing void in STEM professionals in Georgia’s labor market, and schools that encourage students’ passions for science, technology, engineering and math will go far to fill that gap.”

 

To earn STEM certification, the school had to submit an application showing that it meets rigorous criteria, such as evidence of teacher collaboration, business and industry partnerships, high levels of math and science instruction and an integrated, project-based STEM curriculum. A team from the Georgia Department of Education visited the school to observe the program.

 

Lanier’s CDAT program features unique three-hour blocks of instruction featuring computer applications, chemistry, biology and English language arts in the mornings and computer applications, Advanced Placement physics, honors physics, English language arts, history and economics in the afternoons, with mathematics integrated into classroom projects. Students use computer projects and competitions as anchors for all instruction, and teachers move students within the three-hour blocks depending upon their academic needs and their project design.

 

The program is inclusive and accepts any student who is interested. End-of-Course Tests (EOCT) and Advanced Placement (AP) test results indicate that CDAT students meet or exceed the results of Lanier students who do not participate in the program.

 

Learn more about STEM schools at http://stemgeorgia.org.​ 

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