Support the Math and Science Partnership Program
The Math and Science Partnership program, funded out of Title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, is the only dedicated STEM education program at the Department of Education. The program is currently funded at a level of $175 million out of the Fiscal Year 2011 budget, but has been proposed for elimination by House Labor, HHS, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Denny Rehberg (R-MT). The Senate’s version of the education appropriations bill would continue the program.
What is the Dep. of Education’s Math and Science Partnership Program Do?
Under the program, approximately $175 million in federal funds are distributed each year to each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico through formula grants. State grants ranged from $890,414 to over $21.9 million, with an average of $3.4 million and a median of $2.0 million. Grants are awarded to partnerships between high-need school districts and mathematics, science, and engineering departments at institutions of higher education (IHEs) for the purpose of providing intensive content-rich professional development to teachers and other educators, thus improving classroom instruction and ultimately student achievement in mathematics and science. Teachers who participate in the MSP program receive intensive and sustained content-rich professional development from college and university faculty partners from science, mathematics, engineering, and education departments, as well as from other professionals, that integrates mathematics and science content with effective pedagogical strategies. Many of these teachers have the additional advantage of receiving ongoing support in the form of mentoring and coaching from faculty and master teachers as they begin to implement their new knowledge and practice in their classrooms. Over two-thirds of the 57,000 educators who participated in the program in 2007-08 exhibited significant gains in their content knowledge (67 percent in mathematics and 73 percent in science). These educators, in turn, are enhancing the mathematics and science education of over 2.8 million students.
What Can You Do?
Send a letter in support of the Math and Science Partnership Program to your Members of Congress
Watch a Webinar on the Math and Science Partnership Program and to advocate on its behalf
