AT&T Foundation Bardstown PEP Implementation

14) Project Description: (Provide a full description of your proposed project/program. Describe how this projectiprogra~n will aid students in successfully completing high school. What specific needs will this project address? See above Program/Project Su~nmalyfo r Inore details.) An Ili~~ovativAep proacl~to Pronioti~~Sguc cess for At-Risk Students: The Partnership Enhancement Program of Engagenielit Between K-12 &lath Teachers of Grades 8-10 and &lath Outreach Professors from Postsecondary l~~stitutions. The Partnership lnstihlte for Mathematics and Science Education Rcfornl (PIMSER) seeks planninglcapacity-bt~ildingsu pport from tlic AT&T Foundation to e~nploya unique and highly successfi~li ~iterventionp rogram to significantly increase mathematics achievement, enrollment in higher level core courses and on-time promotion to the next grade in moderately at-risk students in grades 9- I0 in Bardstown High School, Kentucky. The program, Partnership Enhancement Projects (PEPs), was created five years ago by the Appalachian Mathematics and Science Partnership (AIVISP) and continues to achieve positive outcomes through a new and effective approach in forming targeted partnerships behveen teachers and school districts and mathematics and science faculty from institotions of higher education (IHEs) in their respective areas of geographic responsibility The $24.2 million AMSP is one of over forty Mathematics and Science Partnerships (MSPs) competitively awarded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) (2003-present), in its 3600 million nation-wide program (w~~\~nsf.~o\/ehr!LlfSi~Pn)d edb y Congress striving to strengthen America by advancing academic achievement in mathematics and science. Fifty-six PEP program grants of the AMSP have been awarded to 42 of the 56 K-I2 school districts that partner with ten IHEs in tlie central Appalachian regions of Kentucky (38 districts), Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia total $1.2 million plus $0.69 niillion district cost share. Their novel data-driven, evidenced-based approach and success with economically and educationally challei~geds tudelits resulted in an additional $250,000 supplemental award from NSF to expand their geographic range in December 2005. A description of the key characteristics and processes of the PEP approach will show how thcy address specific Progrrr~n Elen7e171s and P~ug~nn0171 tco1)tes of the P ~ o j e c l S ~ ~ pGprna~ntl r equirements of the AT&T Foundation's Special Grants Program. PEP Proeram Key Characteristics K-12 teachers that are teaching tlie courses in the rnatl~elnaticso r science curriculul~i(~1e ttlify rlte specific rreeds and deficiencies lhnr are to be ad(1ress ~vithtl te srrpporr of school and district administrators. Unlike most to(>-do~vanp proaches which often do not have teacller support for lack of involvenient and professional developnient for effective implementation, the PEPs recognize tlie substantial knowledge and ability of many teachers to identify the specific needs for shident achievenient in ~natheiuaticso r science in their own classrooms. This gives a voice and a role to the teachers, as well as recognition of their sesvicc as professionals. Secondly, this localized approach acknowledges a reality that national and state studies have shown over and over, i.e. that in the state and district-co~itrolleds chool systems in a highly decentralized national education system, individual schools and district needs for assistance in matheniatics and science instn~ctionm ay differ widely (e.g. A Nation at Risk, Rising Above the Gathering Storm, Foundations for Success: Final Report of the National blathematics Advising Panel, CPE STEM Task Force Report - c~~e.k~.nov~~~e~~s,'rcports/cue~~ei,or~s!Tsihee~rei iis. Ioiftte~ni n~o) one "magic bullet" or widely utilized program that can be adopted to solve a particular content deficie~icyo r alignment problem with tlie matheniatics or science curriculum in previous or following grades, or even the state standards.