|
NSF PR 98-62 - October 5, 1998
This material is available primarily for archival
purposes. Telephone numbers or other contact information
may be out of date; please see current contact information
at media
contacts.
NSF Approves Multi-Million-Dollar Awards for Texas
and Navajo Rural Schools
The Navajo Nation and West Texas A&M University (WTAMU)
each were named this week to receive a five-year,
$10-million National Science Foundation (NSF) grant
to initiate system-wide reform of K-12 mathematics,
science and technology education for rural school
children.
Both WTAMU and the Navajo Nation are adopting comprehensive
plans to benefit students by improving curricula,
teacher professional development, instruction, student
evaluation and parental support. Some 250,000 Texas
students will be affected as will 70,000 Navajo children,
60,000 of whom live in poverty.
"Since 25 percent of American students attend rural
schools and one-third of American schools are located
in rural areas, this is an essential pool of future
mathematicians, scientists and engineers," said Luther
S. Williams, NSF's assistant director for education
and human resources.
"The addition of Texas and the Navajo Nation to the
growing list of rural public school systems that have
chosen to undertake the challenge of reform is one
more step forward in NSF's continuing effort to focus
on education for students in rural, economically disadvantaged
regions of the nation, particularly those that have
been underserved by NSF programs," he said.
The Navajo Rural Systemic Initiative (RSI) will be
managed by the Navajo Nation's division of education
in Window Rock, Arizona. The Texas RSI grant will
be managed by WTAMU in Canyon, Texas, through the
Texas Engineering Experiment Station (TEES), a state
research agency. WTAMU and TEES are both members of
the Texas A&M University System.
The Rural Systemic Initiatives in Science, Mathematics
and Technology Education was initiated in October
1995. Alaska, Appalachia, Tribal College, and UCAN
(Utah/Colorado, Hopi, Pueblo, Apache and Arizona tribes)
were the first to be funded. There are now seven RSIs,
which share their design and purpose with NSF's Urban
Systemic Initiative (USI) and the Statewide Systemic
Initiative (SSI) programs in that they stimulate system-wide
educational reform of science, mathematics and technology.
RSI grants target vast geographic regions or areas
that are geographically separated, often crossing
state lines and school districts, but linked by social
or cultural factors.
RSIs are tailored to address policy, leadership and
workforce issues related to educational barriers.
RSIs target regions that are highly rural, characterized
by significant levels of poverty among their school-age
children, and share common cultural, social and economic
characteristics.
Other RSI goals are:
- The improvement of science, mathematics and technology
education;
- The preparation of a technologically competent
workforce to enhance the infrastructure of economic
development activities within a community or region,
by strengthening the science, mathematics and
technology instructional capacities of regional
colleges and universities;
- The enhancement of scientific literacy and science
understanding and appreciation among students
and the general community; and
- The development of community infrastructure to
provide resources to sustain educational improvements.
Editors: More details about RSIs are
available at: http://www.ehr.nsf.gov/EHR/ESR/Rsi.htm
|
|