In this Q&A , Vice President of Philanthropic Partnerships Janine Ingram explains how MIND Research Institute is building creative partnerships with companies across the country to scale its ST Math program and improve educational outcomes for more students.
What kind of impact has your program been able to make?
With STEMworks members’ support, MIND brought ST Math to nearly 50,000 additional students in one year. Additionally, we added new teacher support resources. Ultimately, it will be building significant, lasting relationships with STEMworks corporate partners and other donors investing in MIND’s vision that will have the greatest impact on increasing students’ love and mastery of math. Our mission is to ensure that all students are mathematically equipped to solve the world’s most challenging problems. Currently we reach 800,000 of the close to 50 million public K-12 students. We are proud of our impact, and know we have a LONG way to go.
How has being in STEMworks changed the way your program works?
I’d say it’s less about changing how our program works –15 years of program evaluation tells us our unique, non-language based ST Math program is the most effective program in increasing student math proficiency and in-depth math mastery! However, the increased visibility from Change the Equation, STEMworks and the Business Roundtable has helped us learn to be better partners – to ask, learn and understand how MIND can help our corporate partners meet their strategic business goals. Yes, STEMworks members are committed to helping solve the STEM crisis, yet they have their own corporate goals to meet. MIND wants to help with their goals and ours: continuing to scale ST Math and lead the math learning revolution.
How has being in STEMworks connected you to corporate America?
Our ST Math program was one of only four educational solutions selected by Change the Equation as highly effective and ready to scale. This has led to unprecedented success in building new creative partnerships with companies across the country, such as a new $500,000 gift from Verizon to bring ST Math to high need schools across the country. It has also provided new life to existing partnerships, such as a $500,000 grant from Boeing to develop enhanced professional development curriculum for teachers, in addition to their continued support funding high need schools throughout Southern California.
How is your program planning to bring itself to scale?
MIND’s expansion strategy can be summed up in three words: Expand, Explore, Excel. Expand brings ST Math into more classrooms across the nation, with the goal of reaching 1.2 million students by 2017. Excel adds teacher support and professional development initiatives, including a learner community, pre-service and in-service teacher training. Explore applies the principles of ST Math outside the classroom such as our annual math fair and our student Game-a-thon challenge, as well as ongoing research into the neuroscience of learning.
What’s one piece of advice for other STEM programs?
The STEM crisis is not just rhetoric so be able to support your claims with results. Corporate America invests in proven results.
This interview was originally published on Change the Equation.
MIND Research Institute welcomes guest blogs that highlight best practices in math education, blended learning and innovative learning strategies that inspire students at all ages.
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