National Math and Science Initiative

NMSI's College Readiness Program is a three-year program in which teachers go through rigorous professional development to better prepare themselves and their students for Advanced Placement Exams. The prototype for NMSI's program, Advanced Placement Strategies (APS) was launched as a public-private partnership in the Dallas area in 1995 by a group of local businessmen committed to education reform. The goal of the APS program was to improve college readiness and encourage STEM studies for underserved Texas public high school students by increasing participation and performance in AP math, science and English courses. Texas schools in their first year of the APS program increased their exam participation by 198 percent.[3]

In the 2008–2009 school year, NMSI replicated the APS program as the Advanced Placement Training and Incentive Program (APTIP) and in its first year, the program increased enrollment in AP courses by nearly 70 percent, including a 122 percent increase among African American and Hispanic students. The number of passing AP math, science, and English exams also increased by 52 percent, which was nine times the national average; for African American and Hispanic students, the increase in passing AP scores was 71.5 percent.[4]

On September 1, 2012, APS officially merged with NMSI to bring this program to scale throughout the United States.[5] More than 50,000 students are now enrolled in the NMSI College Readiness Program, and it is currently being implemented in more than 550 schools in 22 states.[6]

The most recent results show a continuing trend of student improvement. Over the life cycle of the NMSI program, the number of average passing scores on AP math, science and English exams increased by 144 percent, compared to 23.2 percent nationally. The average three-year increase in the number of passing math, science and English scores among minorities enrolled in the NMSI program is 219 percent compared to the national average of 48.5 percent. The number of average passing scores for females enrolled in the NMSI program increased by 87 percent, compared to 8.7 percent nationally.[7]

In 2010, the organization received funding from the Lockheed Martin Corporation to launch the AP program in schools serving military bases.[8] In April 2011, First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden announced the expansion of the program as part of their national Joining Forces initiative, which aims to provide support and resources to military personnel and their families in the areas of employment, housing, health care, education, etc.[9] Mrs. Obama and Dr. Biden made the announcement at a community event at Fountain-Fort Carson High School in Fountain, Colo.[10] As of January 2014, NMSI's College Readiness Program is being implemented in 71 schools serving military families in 18 states.[11]

In January 2012, NMSI merged with Laying the Foundation, an organization which focused on professional development for math, science, and English teachers, grades 6-12.[12] After the merge, NMSI's Laying the Foundation teacher training program was expanded to include training for elementary teachers, grades 3–5.[13] In 2012, NMSI was selected to work with the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) consortium to lead Common Core State Standards training in 22 states and create the Educator Leader Cadre.[14]

In August 2013, NMSI received a $248,760 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop a series of web-based training modules for teachers who have attended NMSI's Laying the Foundation Program.[15]

The UTeach Program originated at The University of Texas at Austin in 1997, enabling students who are majoring in math, science, or computer science to receive full teaching certification without adding time or cost to their degrees. The national replication process is directed by NMSI in conjunction with the UTeach Institute.

The NMSI-supported replication of the UTeach program for preparing teachers was launched in 2008 in 13 universities in nine states (Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, and Texas).[16]

On Jan. 6, 2010, President Barack Obama mentioned the UTeach program at a White House education event, saying, “To bring more educators into the classroom, the National Math and Science Initiative is working with Texas Instruments and the Dell Foundation to prepare almost 5,000 new math and science teachers in the next five years -- through a program that allows young people to earn teaching certificates and science degrees at the same time.”[17] Furthermore, the UTeach Institute projects that 9,000 UTeach program graduates will have impacted 4.8 million secondary STEM students nationwide by 2020.[18]

On February 4, 2014, it was announced that NMSI is expanding the program to 5 additional universities thanks to a $22.5 million grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, bringing the total number of UTeach Replication sites to 40 across 19 states. Another 5 will be added in 2015 through the HHMI funding.[19]