Two nonprofits merge to help middle and high school students succeed
Robert Miller -
Dallas Morning News -
The nonprofit National Math and Science Initiative and Laying the Foundation have merged, putting in place a system for preparing middle and high school students to succeed in Pre-Advanced Placement and AP courses in the critical fields of math, science and English.
“This new partnership will provide a continuum of training that will dramatically extend our reach,” said Dr. Mary Ann Rankin, president and CEO of the National Math and Science Initiative. “We will be able to give teachers the tools and training to give more students the math and science skills they need to succeed in today’s world.”
Rankin is a former dean at the University of Texas at Austin and the “godmother” of the UTeach program, which trains math and science teachers.
Laying the Foundation will function as a division of the National Math and Science Initiative. The initiative’s other divisions are the Advanced Placement Training and Incentive Program, which is expanding the number of high school students taking and succeeding in AP math, science and English, and UTeach.
Laying the Foundation focuses on teacher training and resource development for Pre-AP and AP teachers in grades six through 12. It has training contracts with organizations in the six states where National Math and Science Initiative’s Advanced Placement Training and Incentive Program is already in place, and with school districts and individual schools in eight other states.
“By joining forces and leveraging the talent and resources from both NMSI and LTF, we will reach more teachers who will challenge more students to succeed in the critical fields of science, technology, engineering and math,” said David Saba, president of Laying the Foundation.
Carolyn B. Dickson, executive director of the O’Donnell Foundation and a member of Laying the Foundation’s board, will join the National Math and Science Initiative board.
Local leaders who have helped make the merger happen are Peter O’Donnell, who envisioned and funded the expansion of the AP program back when Texas was seeking the Superconducting Super Collider. O’Donnell created Laying the Foundation to get more students into the math and science pipeline during middle school. Tom Luce of Dallas, a former assistant secretary of education, assumed leadership of the National Math and Science Initiative in 2007 to take O’Donnell’s program to more students around the U.S.
Luce is now board chairman of the National Math and Science Initiative.
Major funding came from Dallas-based Exxon Mobil Corp., whose vice president, Ken Cohen, is an active member of the National Math and Science Initiative board. Texas Instruments Inc. has been a key supporter of UTeach.
The National Math and Science Initiative has received major funding from Exxon Mobil, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, with additional support from Carnegie Corp. of New York and Lockheed Martin Corp.
To learn more about Laying the Foundation, visit www.ltftraining.org.
9:58 AM CST on 1.11.2012