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Project LEGAL |
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Law-Related Education:
Goals for American Leadership |
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In 1976, Jim Carroll,
Ph.D., designed innovative curricula to infuse U.S. Constitutional Law
studies to middle and high school American history classrooms across the United
States. It was validated by the New
York State Department of Education in 1979, and again by the United States
Department of Education in 1982, 1992, and 1996. This plan, Project LEGAL has since been
implemented by more than 2,500 elementary and secondary teachers, from over
1,500 school districts in thirty-four states, the Virgin Islands, Croatia,
and Hungary. The purpose of the
project is to enhance student law-related problem-solving and critical
thinking skills. ·
In the mid-nineties, widespread
use of the internet and the benefits of integrating technology into
classrooms had a profound impact on education theory. However, not all educators enjoyed equal
access to this technology or technology education. In response, Project Legal, Inc. developed
Project CRITICAL (Curriculum Restructuring In-service Training, Integrating
Computer Applications, and Learning) for New York City school districts 3 and
5 (currently Region 9) and Manhattan HS in 1996 to equip and train their
teachers with technology. Project
CRITICAL, made possible under by a United States Department of Education Javits Grant, also further developed and adapted aspects
of the Project LEGAL model based on Howard Gardner's models of multiple
intelligence (1983 - Present), and
employed Type I, II and III enrichment methods, under Joseph S. Renzulli's Enrichment Triad model (1977). Since, Project CRITICAL has been expanded
for use in all grade levels. ·
In 1995 Project LEGAL
was extended to an interactive case method containing over 60 landmark
constitutional law cases. Originally a
hypercard-based format, CompuLegal
was made available online in 1997. ·
In 1998, Project
Legal, Inc. developed curricula to teach a general problem solving model to
11th and 12th grade Social Studies, Language Arts, and Science students in
Region 2 of the Bronx (formerly Elementary and Middle School Districts 7
& 9, and Bronx HS District), which filled the New York State
"participation in government" (PIG) requirement. This project was reformulated for general
policy analysis as TIPS (Teaching Interdisciplinary Problem Solving through
Educational Technology) by Project LEGAL, Inc in 1999. TIPS has since
been implemented in language arts, social studies and science classrooms of
all grade levels. In 2002, schools in
Rochester NY and Bronx HS District used New York State Learning Technology
Grants to bring TIPS to their schools. ·
In 1999, Project
LEGAL, Inc. introduced Public Policy Analyst, an interactive web-based social
problem solving model to accompany CompuLegal. ·
Project LEGAL was
awarded two USDE Character education grants in 2002 and in 2008 for New York
City and Yonkers respectively. ·
From 2007-2009,
Project LEGAL was awarded a New York State Legislative grant in partnership
with the Yonkers City School District. ·
From 2003 to 2015
Project LEGAL oversaw 18 New York State Learning Technology Grants in
Binghamton, North Syracuse, Utica, Rochester, Yonkers, Manhattan, the Bronx,
Brooklyn and Queens, NY. ·
Two USDE Teaching
American History grants were awarded to Project LEGAL in 2009 and 2010 for
the North Syracuse Central School District and Utica City School District. ·
In 2010-11, Project
LEGAL and North Syracuse Central School District secured an EETT New York
State grant. ·
Currently Project
LEGAL, Syracuse University and New York City Community School District 5 are
in the midst of another USDE Javits grant, Project CRITICAL. |