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NSF Issues 24 Math and Science Partnership Awards
The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently announced 24 awards under the new Math and Science Partnership (MSP) Program — an anticipated investment of $240 million over five years in projects to improve the achievement of K-12 students in science and mathematics. The Department of Education is an NSF partner in this effort, co-funding two projects involving state education agencies.
Seven comprehensive MSP awards total about $147 million over five years and will affect about 1.8 million students in 11 states. Seventeen targeted partnership grants, which are intended to improve achievement in specific disciplines or grade ranges, total about $90 million over five years and will affect about 200 school districts and some 600,000 pre-K through grade 12 students in 11 states.
Also, 12 smaller awards for capacity building projects will focus on research, evaluation and technical assistance for the MSP Learning Network. Through this vehicle, researchers and practitioners in MSP and other related projects will unite in a national effort to further develop understanding of how students best learn mathematics and science. It will also promote broad dissemination and emulation of successful strategies in educational practice.
Designed to enhance the performance of U.S. students in mathematics and science, these new partnership activities are a key facet of President Bush's No Child Left Behind education plan and the first investment in his five-year $1 billion math and science partnership initiative. Partnership projects address key contributing factors such as: too many teachers who are not fully trained to teach math and science subjects, too few students who take advanced coursework, and too few schools that offer challenging curricula and textbooks.
The new partnership program will unite teachers and administrators in K-12 schools, mathematics, science and engineering faculty in colleges and universities, and other stakeholders in K-12 education to improve student outcomes. MSP projects will seek to enhance the quantity, quality and diversity of the math and science teacher workforce at a time when many teachers are retiring or otherwise leaving the profession.