In June 2000, 43 young people received diplomas from the Metropolitan Career and Technical Center—the first graduating class of a unique, state-funded high school in Providence, RI. Instead of being handed a schedule of classes, each Met student plots how he or she will make progress toward the school's learning goals in meetings with a team including a teacher-advisor and a parent. Instead of classes, the students fashion independent projects through which to explore their interests and meet their learning goals. Instead of tests, they do quarterly exhibitions of their work and accumulate a four-year portfolio. Forty-Three Valedictorians looks at this success story in the making through the eyes and voices of Met students.
