Education infused with technology: Forget tests and papers. These students are doing documentaries and books.

Byline: Dale Mezzacappa, The Philadelphia Inquirer

Jan. 2--SAN DIEGO -- Chandler Garbell got straight A's but was still restless at suburban Rancho Bernardo High School. She was tired of textbook exercises, even in Advanced Placement courses. "I realized there was something missing in my education," she said. So, in her junior year, she transferred to High Tech High. Brandan Johnson had a different kind of restlessness. A black male living in a rough section of town, he knew too many kids who wound up in prison or working at McDonald's. With a push from his parents, he, too, signed up for High Tech High. In this innovative charter school, in a converted warehouse, students don't take tests or write papers. Instead, they use the latest technology to produce documentaries, books and presentations.

The brainchild of lawyer-turned-educator Larry Rosenstock, High Tech High is one of many attempts nationally to reinvent high schools. The burgeoning movement is fueled by growing alarm over dropout rates -- especially among blacks and Hispanics -- disengaged students, and a decline in American competitiveness in science and math. The quest is attracting millions of dollars from entrepreneurs and philanthropists, led by Microsoft chairman Bill Gates, who earlier this year told the nation's governors that the traditional large urban high school is obsolete. High Tech High is one of the models attracting the most attention and…