Some of our accomplishments:
*Establishment of 4 urban centers - Alliance City, Canton City, Massillon City, and Plain Local
*Significant reduction in the achievement gap for minority high school math students in the 4 urban centers in 2007
*Introduction of 14 teacher coaches assigned to work with teachers to enhance classroom performance throughout the County
*Partnership with 5 area colleges to assist with teacher content knowledge and improvement of pre-service teacher programs and 4 college liaisons to help with communication and professional development programming
*Partnership with area business and industry in providing summer internship opportunities for teachers to enhance real-world applications in the classroom with 165 teachers and 56 businesses participating over 5 years
*College tutor program for students in the 4 urban districts
*Student Experimental Research Program (SERP), promoting extensive student research with mentoring by college professors and business representatives
*Masters Degree programs for middle school teachers through Malone College (graduating a total of 24 in math and 17 in science) and Kent State University to improve content knowledge in math and science
*Establishment of building level study groups focused on improving student achievement
*Support services for middle and high school guidance counselors
*An extensive workshop program offered throughout the academic year and summer
*21 member MSP Advisory Board
*16 member MSP Business Advisory Council
*Comprehensive data analysis program based on the work of Nancy Love and Research for Better Teaching
Looking toward the future:
The National Science Foundation, impressed with Stark County's endeavors over the previous 5 years, has extended the grant by 2 more years adding an additional $100,000 per year. These additional funds, along with some carryover funding will enable Stark County Schools to continue the following MSP programs/services:
*4 County Teacher Coach positions
*Math and Science Lead Teacher programs
*Kent Research Bureau evaluation services
*MSP Advisory Board
*Content Networks in Math and Science
*Summer 2008 Workshops
*Administrative assistance
The National Science Foundation would like us to focus some of our attention specifically on:
*Publishing results from our grant initiatives
*Maintaining our MSP website
*Obtaining, reporting, and interpreting more valuable data to be used in improving curriculum and instruction
Stark County is grateful to the NSF and looking for to 2 more years of progress toward our goal of raising overall student achievement in math and science and reducing the achievement gap at the middle and high school levels.