Silicon Valley, CA, Dec 4, 2012 The Cisco Foundation is awarding a $102,000 grant to the education non-profit MIND Research Institute to bring a results-driven blended learning program designed to close the achievement gap in math to 650 students at five additional Silicon Valley schools. Students and teachers using the program have on average [doubled or tripled their growth in math proficiency[www.mindresearch.net/results/resultsatscale]] on state standardized tests. Cisco’s total support of MIND Research’s efforts to improve math education in Silicon Valley now exceeds $272,000.
“Cisco Foundation is impressed with the measurable impact MIND’s programs have on improving math proficiency and fostering a love of learning for high-needs children in Silicon Valley and across the country,” said Ricardo Benavidez, Cisco community relations manager for Silicon Valley. “We’re pleased to expand our partnership to prepare even more students to succeed in higher education and enter the highly skilled workforce that fuels our region.”
Cisco Foundation’s grant will provide access to the ST Math® visual learning program for students, professional development for teachers and year-round educational support services for the five schools in Franklin-McKinley and Alum Rock school districts. The schools benefiting from this grant include Hellyer, Los Arboles, Santee and Stonegate in Franklin-McKinley School District and Fischer Middle School in Alum Rock Union Elementary School District.
A 2012 analysis conducted by MIND Research found that Silicon Valley schools that fully implemented the ST Math instructional software for two years experienced more than three times the growth in math proficiency on the California Standards Test: a 7.1 point increase compared to 2.3 point increase at similar non-ST Math schools.
“Thanks to the commitment of Cisco and our partners at the schools and in the community, we are seeing robust, replicable results in Silicon Valley, and across the country in some of the nation’s largest districts,” said Andrew R. Coulson, president of MIND’s education division. “Ensuring students have a solid foundation in math from an early age promises to pay dividends for decades to come, as they become more likely to succeed in higher math, graduate from high school, attend college and excel in their careers.”
With Cisco’s latest grant, total community funding of MIND’s programs in Silicon Valley now surpasses $789,000. Other local donors include SAP, Symantec, Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Herrick, and the Silicon Valley Education Foundation, which awarded MIND its 2012 STEM Innovation Award.
About 16,000 students at 45 elementary and middle schools in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties currently use MIND’s math program thanks to the philanthropically funded ST Math Project: Silicon Valley. Similar philanthropic initiatives have been launched by MIND, community supporters, and school districts in 15 of the nation’s largest public school systems. In Silicon Valley, as across the country, the vast majority of the schools participating in the program serve low-income students. The National Math Initiatives are currently reaching approximately 200,000 students, and are funded entirely by MIND Research or other philanthropic organizations.
Cisco and Cisco Foundation have partnered with MIND since 2004, donating more than $2.8 million in cash and in-kind donations to deliver ST Math, professional development, and educational support to schools across the U.S.
For more information contact:
Christine Byrd
949-345-8636
cbyrd@mindresearch.net
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