Santa Ana, CA, Aug 14, 2012 Today, the non-profit MIND Research Institute will receive the 2012 STEM Innovation Award for math education from the Silicon Valley Education Foundation.
The award, which will be presented at SVEF’s annual Pioneers and Purpose dinner in San Jose, Calif., recognizes “pioneering programs or practices that create innovations in science, technology, engineering and/or math education,” commonly referred to as STEM. MIND Research is being recognized for its ST Math® instructional software, a blended learning approach that helps students and teachers develop deep, conceptual understanding of math concepts through innovative, neuroscience-based virtual math manipulatives presented as games. Research shows that students with a solid foundation of math skills are much more likely to enter engineering and science fields.
“MIND Research Institute is honored to be recognized for impacting math education and helping create the next generation of science, technology, engineering and math innovators,” said Andrew R. Coulson, president of MIND’s education division, who will accept the award.
MIND Research’s math education program is available to all schools, but through a 5-year, $2,025,000 community grants initiative called ST Math Project: Silicon Valley, it specifically targeted 45 elementary and middle schools with some of the lowest math scores in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties. Philanthropic support for this project, which totals $644,000 to date, is provided by Cisco, SAP, Symantec, and Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Herrick, among others.
Due to the corporate and community support, ST Math current reaches more than 19,000 students in Santa Clara and San Mateo. In 2011, Silicon Valley schools that used MIND Research’s ST Math program saw twice the growth in math proficiency on state tests – an 11.6% increase compared to 4.9% increase in similar non-ST Math schools.
The STEM Innovation Award includes a $5,000 grant, presented by Ernst & Young, to continue supporting MIND Research’s educational programs in the Silicon Valley.
Other programs receiving STEM Innovation Awards from SVEF include Techbridge for the science category, Level Playing Field Institute for technology and Computer History Museum for engineering. The Pioneer Business Leader Award goes to Larry Sonsini, chairman of the Silicon Valley law firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, for his many contributions to business and philanthropy.
About SVEF:
Silicon Valley Education Foundation is a non-profit resource and advocate for students, educators and corporate and individual donors. We drive scholastic achievement in the critical areas of math & science by combining resources and partnerships to provide innovative academic programs. We are a catalyst for policy solutions in public education in the region. Our mission is to make Silicon Valley the leader in academically prepared students. For more information, visit www.svefoundation.org.
For more information contact:
Christine Byrd
949-345-8636
cbyrd@mindresearch.net
Download our corporate backgrounder here.
