White House Spotlights National Math and Science Initiative in Expanded Efforts to Train 100,000 New STEM Teachers
President also calls for one million STEM graduates; NMSI program a solution
DALLAS – At a special White House event yesterday, President Barack Obama cited the National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI) and a number of other partner organizations and private sector supporters for their roles in expanded efforts to prepare 100,000 new science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) teachers, as well as train one million additional STEM graduates over the next decade.
“When students excel in math and science, they help America compete for the jobs and industries of the future,” President Obama said at the White House’s second annual Science Fair, which recognizes the innovation and talent of outstanding math and science students. “Teachers matter,” he said, underscoring teachers’ vital roles in helping more young people succeed in the critical STEM fields.
Key steps announced yesterday included a proposed new $80 million investment by the Administration for effective STEM teacher preparation programs. Additionally, President Obama announced a $22 million investment from the philanthropic and private sector to create a fund that will invest in STEM teacher preparation and support through the “100Kin10” coalition. NMSI is one of more than 115 partner organizations in this coalition and has committed to preparing 4,000 new STEM teachers by 2015 through its UTeach program, which recruits and trains promising college math and science majors to become teachers.
“We are gratified by the Administration’s acknowledgement of our successful UTeach program in meeting the critical need to train 100,000 highly qualified and inspired new STEM teachers,” said Dr. Mary Ann Rankin, president and CEO of NMSI. “We are deeply invested in this mission to ensure that our students get the tools they need to succeed in today’s highly competitive workforce.”
A report released yesterday by the President’s Council of Advisors in Science and Technology (PCAST) concluded that one million additional STEM graduates are needed over the next decade to fill the growing number of jobs that require STEM skills. In response to this workforce crisis, President Obama announced a range of initiatives focused on prioritizing undergraduate STEM education, scaling up proven approaches to improving student learning at the K-12 and undergraduate levels, and fostering greater investment and involvement by the private sector to get more boys and girls engaged and excelling at STEM education.
Among the initiatives highlighted was the commitment by the CEO-lead coalition Change the Equation to expand high-quality STEM programs to over 130 new sites, impacting 40,000 students. NMSI’s Advanced Placement Training and Incentive Program (APTIP) is one of five programs that will benefit from the expansion. The APTIP is actively expanding the number of American high school students enrolled in and passing college-level Advanced Placement (AP)* math, science and English courses, which are correlated with success in college.
“APTIP is addressing the skills gap in today’s workforce in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM),” said Gregg Fleisher, national director of APTIP. “With the private sector’s support, we are preparing more students in the United States to succeed in college and go on to compete on the global stage, which is essential to the future of our country.”
“It is important to note as well,” said Dr. Rankin, “That our newest partner, Laying the Foundation, works hand-in-hand with APTIP, training middle school and pre-AP teachers and providing curriculum enhancements that help prepare more students to succeed in Advanced Placement courses.”
About UTeach
Created at The University of Texas at Austin in 1997, the UTeach program enables students majoring in math, science, or computer science to receive full teaching certification without adding time or cost to their degrees. Some 82 percent of the UTeach graduate hires are still teaching after five years, compared with 65 percent nationally. About 50 percent of the UTeach graduates teach in high-needs schools. The national replication process is directed by NMSI in conjunction with the UTeach Institute. It is estimated that the teachers graduating over the next five years from the first cohort of 13 UTeach universities will impact more than two million students during the course of their teaching careers. More than 5,500 students are enrolled in the UTeach program in 29 university campuses.
About the Advanced Placement Training and Incentive Program (APTIP)
APTIP dramatically increases the performance of high school students in rigorous AP courses in math, science and English. The comprehensive approach includes intensive teacher training, support from master teachers, increased time on task for students in special study sessions, open enrollment, and incentives for teachers and students. Passing AP exam scores are almost universally accepted for course credit by the nation’s colleges and universities, which see success in AP courses as reliable indicators of students’ subject-area knowledge and capacity for college-level thinking.
About Laying the Foundation (LTF)
LTF is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing outstanding middle- and pre-AP-high-school-level, content-based, pedagogy-driven, teacher-to-teacher training, supported by rigorous classroom-ready lessons and web-based resources in English, mathematics, and science instruction. LTF has trained over 34,000 teachers to date and has demonstrated produced dramatic increases in success in STEM subjects and Advanced Placement exam participation. LTF’s professional development program has been adopted by most of the schools participating in the APTIP program across the country and is part of NMSI’s new i3-funded grant from the U.S. Department of Education to expand APTIP to Colorado and Indiana.
About the National Math and Science Initiative
NMSI is an agent of change that was launched in 2007 by top leaders in business, education and science to improve student achievement in math and science across the American public school system. NMSI’s mission is to bring best practices to the education sector by replicating proven programs on a national scale that have more than 10 years of proven results. NMSI has received major funding support for its groundbreaking national initiatives from Exxon Mobil Corporation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, with additional support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
*AP and Advanced Placement Program are registered trademarks of the College Board.
4:27 PM CST on 2.8.2012
