Anaheim, CA, Oct 7, 2011 At a celebration event today, the non-profit MIND Research Institute and the Anaheim City School District (ACSD) announced that District students increased math proficiency on the CST state standardized math assessment. Anaheim elementary teachers have steadily increased student math achievement over the last five years while gradually rolling-out MIND’s visual math education software program to K-5 elementary grades district-wide. Serving more than 19,000 students, the district’s K-6 schools have improved math proficiency every year since the initial launch of MIND Research Institute’s visual math program in 2006. MIND’s “Orange County Math Initiative: Celebration of Success” event was held at Franklin Elementary School in Anaheim today. Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez and ACSD Superintendent Jose Banda and representatives of the Orange County Department of Education joined MIND in recognizing the students’ and teachers’ accomplishments and thanking the community partners of MIND Research’s philanthropic Orange County Math Initiative, for enabling all district schools to access the program. Also announced at the event was that ACSD and MIND have partnered with the Anaheim Public Library system, to allow students online access to the ST Math® visual math software afterschool on Anaheim public libraries’ computers.
In 2005, the Anaheim City School District average math proficiency was 37%, 14 points below the California state average. One of the largest elementary school districts in California, ACSD students are 85% Hispanic and more than 80% are on the free and reduced lunch program. Language proficiency is an obstacle for many students, with over half classified as English language learners.
What started five years ago with two ACSD schools participating has grown through the community supported Orange County Math Initiative into 24 ACSD schools – now with 61% of students testing as proficient or advanced in math in 2011. Anaheim City School District has closed the gap with California’s average math proficiency from 14 points to just six percentage points.
The Orange County Math Initiative provided ACSD schools with licenses for MIND’s award-winning ST Math® instructional software, professional development trainings from both MIND and OCDE, software updates, and real-time reports on student progress for teachers and principals.
“Our partnership with the MIND Research Institute has been a significant factor in the steady increase of math achievement in this district,” said Anaheim City School District Superintendent Jose Banda. “We are very excited to have 100% of our schools participating in this innovative program. The visual learning components and technology are especially effective for our English language learners to gain understanding and mastery of math concepts. In addition, the online learning pieces and parent trainings have encouraged parent participation and strengthened our school-family relationships.”
Orange County Math Initiative
The Orange County Math Initiative is a community partnership to help teachers elevate student math achievement in the county. The Initiative is a partnership between the Orange County Department of Education (OCDE), participating corporations, foundations and individuals and the MIND Research Institute. Orange County corporations are funding the partnership to meet their ongoing needs for employees at all levels of business who possess math skills. The five-year effort will continue until the total budget of $5.9 million is met. Over $4 million has been raised to date. For the 2011-12 school year, the Orange County Math Initiative will impact 14 districts, 108 schools, more than 2,600 teachers and more than 61,000 high-need students.
“The substantial impact the MIND Research Institute’s Orange County Math Initiative has had with the students of the Anaheim City School District truly reaffirms Microsemi’s enthusiasm in continuing to work with education leaders in our community that are dedicated to improving students’ math proficiency,” said James J. Peterson, president and CEO of Microsemi Corporation, one of the “lead” contributors to the Orange County Math Initiative.
Local Orange County Math Initiative lead sponsors are: Abbott Medical Optics, Bank of America, Boeing, Emulex Corporation, Microsemi Corporation, Pacific Life Foundation, Mr. and Mrs. John Phelan, and The Segerstrom Foundation. Additional sponsors include: 3M, ESPE Dental Products, Capital Group Companies, Chevron Corporation, Edwards Lifesciences, Fluor Corporation, O.L. Halsell Foundation, SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union, Southern California Edison, Taco Bell Corporation, and US Bank. National Math Initiative contributors include PricewaterhouseCoopers, CISCO, Wells Fargo Foundation, and University of Phoenix Foundation.
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