History and Current Status
The five decades following World War II were, for the United States, a period of unprecedented and unsurpassed world leadership in scientific and technological innovation and achievement. Yet even while citizens of the United States largely assumed a continuing dominance in science and technology as globalization and global competitiveness rapidly evolved, unmistakable signs of a decay in this position have emerged during the last decade. In 1999 the U.S. Council on Competitiveness reported that the U.S. innovation infrastructure was beginning to decline at a time when other nations of the world were "accelerating their own efforts." These efforts were fueled by a concomitant rise in mathematical, scientific, and technological literacy in the developed and developing nations and an alarming decline of these same literacies in the U.S.
The need for education reform in science, mathematics and technology was recognized by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in its 1989 report Science for All Americans. The report was followed by a series of other research-based studies calling for the establishment of national standards for science education and providing recommendations for K-12 postsecondary education reform initiatives. By 2000 the Glen Commission had linked these needs for reform of P-16 Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines to the erosion of economic growth and scientific innovation.
"We as a nation must take immediate action to improve the quality of math and science education in every classroom in the country." The Glen Commission (2000)
This link between mathematics and science education, teacher training and economic development was seen to be particularly relevant in the economically challenged central Appalachian region of the United States. Educational studies and analyses showed the existence of a large student achievement gap in these critical areas. There were clear needs for both enhancing K-12 mathematics and science education and building a highly qualified teacher workforce.
The University of Kentucky responded to these needs in 2002 by joining with nine institutions of higher education (IHEs), fifty one school districts and the Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation in the central Appalachian regions of Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia to compete for a newly announced National Science Foundation (NSF) Mathematics and Science Partnership (MSP) Program grant. This partnership of educational institutions with the University of Kentucky as lead institution was awarded $22.5 million for a five-year project.
This MSP, known as the Appalachian Mathematics and Science Partnership (AMSP) has two overarching goals, i.e. to eliminate the achievement gap in science and mathematics for K-12 students in the region and to build an integrated K-12 and higher education system in this historically underserved region that will ensure the selection, development and career-long support of a high quality mathematics and science teacher workforce.
The AMSP project is the first formal program in the University with a mission to build partnerships among higher education institutions, K-12 education and public and private stakeholders to improve teaching and student learning in P-16 mathematics, science and technology education.
The University of Kentucky made two unique and strategic commitments to sustain the AMSP "best-practices" beyond the period of the grant in its proposal to the NSF. The first was to create Outreach Professors in Mathematics and Science with continuing support from the University to achieve the AMSP's goals toward facilitation of K-12-IHE partnerships. The second was to establish and support an institute that would utilize the capacity, capabilities and best practices created by the AMSP to continue to serve its goals for mathematics and science education reform.
This entity, named the Partnership Institute for Mathematics and Science Education Reform (PIMSER), was formally created by action of the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees in May 2005. It is the locus through which the AMSP activities will be coordinated and directed by the AMSP Project Director.
The rationale for the Institute derives from the recognition that the needs of P-16 science, technology, engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education require an integrated collaboration of both content and pedagogical areas of expertise and for the need within the University for a "hub" or center to facilitate and manage the responses to these needs. These areas are both research based and directly applicable to evidence-based and data-driven education reform practices in both the IHEs and the schools. Retention of the AMSP's partnership practices and K-12 district network as a vehicle of education reform is viewed as a defining characteristic of the Institute.
The Institute itself is a highly collaborative effort of the Colleges of Arts and Sciences, Education and Engineering.
Functions of the Institute include:
- Institutional outreach and engagement in STEM Education to K-12 Schools
- Professional Development in K-16 content and pedagogy areas (as determined by Institute members of the Colleges of Arts and Sciences, Education, and Engineering)
- Development of standards-based pre-service courses in mathematics and science
- Facilitation and coordination of programs in middle and high schools and in colleges to recruit more students into STEM areas, particularly in teacher education.
- Linkage of the University with other two and four year colleges and universities in cooperative efforts to improve K-12 mathematics and science education
- Utilization of the AMSP and PIMSER websites to communicate mathematics/science education, best practices, reform needs and project and funding opportunities
- Organization of conferences focusing on science and mathematics education reform
- Coordination and development of responses to funding opportunities from University, state, and national sources to support the Institute and its educational activities
- Surveys of local school districts to determine STEM education improvement needs and assisting in strategic planning of in-service activities
- Innovative initiatives to institutionalize collaboration between Arts and Sciences and Education in recruitment and preparation of K-12 math and science teachers.
- Development of research-based policy papers that relate to STEM education reform
The organizational and management structure of the Institute was initially defined by the language in the resolution approved by the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees (Appendix A). In that the Institute involves multiple college and their faculties it was placed in the Office of the University Provost in compliance with University Regulation AR II – 4.0-5.
Its management consists of the Director and an Advisory Board consisting of the AMSP Principal Investigator, the Outreach Professors in Mathematics and Science, the Deans of the Colleges of Arts and Sciences, Education and Engineering, a K-12 teacher/administrator, a research educator, a science educator and a mathematics educator. The Director and Board may recommend other appointments to the Provost for approval.
The Institute serves as an umbrella organization for coordinating and promoting other units and projects consistent with, and complementary to, its mission, goals and primary functions (See Mission and Goals section). Management for a particular project is decided by the constituent Institute unit. Faculty and staff that acquire grants with the coordination of, and under the auspices of, the Institute will be credited for such awards by their respective academic unit and the institute. The indirect costs from the external grants are distributed to the academic units and the Institute according to University policy with a share to the Institute determined by the Provost, to support administrative and development costs.
The basic administrative costs are supported by indirect costs from grants and contracts acquired by the Institute's staff and by the Office of the Provost and President. One share from the latter offices is currently sixty percent with a planned pro-rata reduction as the Institute increases its external funding (see Appendix B for current grants, contracts and administrative support).
The AMSP created (2006) a development and design team to facilitate the acquisition of external funds to support the research and education initiatives of the Institute.