Ford PAS Modules and Curriculum

The Ford PAS curriculum consists of five semester-long courses that link classroom learning with the challenges students will face in post-secondary education and the workplace of the future. The curriculum integrates academically rigorous, standards-based content with realistic applications in areas such as design and product development, information systems, environmental sustainability, global economics, business planning, and marketing.

Ford PAS courses are designed to be taught in sequence over two-and-a-half years in grades 10, 11 and 12. Each course consists of three six-week modules. A Ford PAS module is comprised of six extended activities that typically last for two to six standard class periods. Each module has a coherent theme and a final project.

The Ford PAS curriculum is designed so that skills and content knowledge developed in a particular module are built upon in later modules. However, modules 3, 8, 10, 12, and 13 are designed so that they can also be used independently as units in existing courses in social studies (U.S. history), statistics, engineering, physics, and economics, respectively. These modules offer the opportunity to participate in Ford PAS to schools that may not have the capacity to offer a full complement of electives; want to encourage students to apply in real-world contexts some of the knowledge and skills they acquire in traditional courses; or would like to try out the Ford PAS teaching and learning approach before committing to full-scale implementation of the program. Following is an overview of the Ford PAS courses and modules.

The five semester-long courses of the complete Ford PAS program are designed to be taught in sequence over two-and-a-half years, beginning in the sophomore year. Some schools opt for an alternate sequence, beginning the program at the start of 10th grade, which allows students to select another elective at the end of their senior year.