The National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI) is a non-profit organization based in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, that launched in 2007. Its mission is to improve student performance in the subjects of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It attempts to do this by scaling up local academic programs to a national level.

History of the initiative

In 2005, the National Academies commissioned a report titled “Rising Above the Gathering Storm” which asserts that student achievement in the subjects of math and science has declined in the United States, while other countries have increased their student achievement scores in the same subject areas. The report recommended the creation of a non-profit organization to help improve math and science education in the United States. Several authors of the report partnered with Peter O’Donnell Jr. to meet this need, effectively establishing NMSI's board of directors and committing to bring both the UTeach and NMSI's College Readiness program (formerly known as NMSI's Comprehensive AP Program and the Advanced Placement Training and Incentive Program PTIP to scale nationally. ExxonMobil invested $125 million to launch the effort, which was later supplemented by an additional $125 million from corporations, foundations, individual donors and government agencies – creating an effective public-private partnership model that continues to sustain the organization today. Tom Luce, Assistant Secretary of Education under President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

, was the Founding CEO and Chairman of the Board.

References

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External links

National Math and Science Initiative Website
Science education in the United States Mathematics education organizations in the United States