[April 12, 2011]

Answering White House Call for Outreach to Military Families, NMSI Announces Major Expansion of AP Program

The White House announced today that First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden will launch a national initiative to support and honor America's service members and their families, including highlighting a private-public partnership to expand the National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI) program to 28 public high schools around the country that have a large number of students from military families. This new expansion will impact 40,000 students in its first year and is a ground-breaking partnership that brings together leading companies, philanthropy, government and non-profits to support military families and children in their educational success.

"We're here today because these Americans in uniform have never served alone. Not at Lexington and Concord, not in Iraq and Afghanistan. Behind every American in uniform stands a wife or husband; a mother, a father; a son or daughter; a sister or brother," said President Obama. "These families - these remarkable families - are the force behind the force."

First Lady Michelle Obama pointed out in her remarks at today's White House event that the National Math and Science Initiative will be bringing Advanced Placement* math and science classes to tens of thousands of students from military families. "This is a challenge to every segment of American society not to simply say thank you but to mobilize, take action and make a real commitment to supporting our military families," she said.

First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Biden have made outreach to military families a major priority. Their Joining Forces initiative aims to spark action from citizens, communities, businesses, non-profits, faith-based institutions, philanthropic organizations, and government - to ensure military families have the support they have earned. Following the launch of this initiative at the White House, First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden will embark on a two-day national tour to highlight the work of Americans who have answered the call to serve our military families to showcase ways all Americans can serve them, from teachers and business leaders, to neighbors and volunteers.

As part of their national tour, First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden will travel Thursday to Fountain-Fort Carson High School in Colorado, one of the new sites for NMSI's Initiative for Military Families, to continue rallying support military children and high-impact programs such as the NMSI AP math and science program.

A non-profit organization, NMSI has been at the forefront of public-private efforts to raise math and science achievement in the U.S. since 2007, when it was created with foundational support from Exxon Mobil Corporation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation.

NMSI launched the Initiative for Military Families (IMF) during the 2010-2011 school year in four public schools that serve a large number of military families, two high schools near Fort Hood in Texas and two near Fort Campbell in Kentucky. Generous inaugural funding to launch the program was provided by Lockheed Martin (News - Alert) Corporation.

As part of the "Joining Forces" launch, NMSI announced today that additional financial support is being provided by the private sector, the Department of Defense Education Activity (DODEA), and the Office of Naval Research (ONR) to expand the IMF next fall to 28 additional high schools, for a total of 32. Major funding for 14 additional school sites is being provided by BAE Systems (News - Alert), Boeing, ExxonMobil, the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, and Northrop Grumman, with additional support from Modern Technology Solutions Inc., the Colorado Legacy Foundation, and the O'Donnell Foundation. DoDEA will join the private sector support by awarding grants to implement the IMF in 11 more high schools and the Office of Naval Research will provide support for three schools serving military populations.

"This strong show of support from the private sector and the Department of Defense will ensure that students whose parents are defending our country get the math and science skills that are critical for them to succeed in today's highly competitive, highly technical world," said Tom Luce, CEO of NMSI. Luce said the NMSI Initiative for Military Families is already having an impact in the first four schools selected for the program, as enrollment in the AP math and science courses in those schools has increased 64 percent thanks to the NMSI program.

Luce pointed out that the access to the college-level courses will give students from military families the opportunity to earn college credit for advanced coursework, provide continuity in curriculum if students are transferred to a new district when a parent is reassigned, and significantly increase their chances of succeeding in college. Students who pass an AP exam are three times more likely to complete their college education.

More than 160,000 young people in the U.S. have a parent currently deployed in active duty combat, and over one million children have had a parent deployed during the last eight years. In total, there are over two million children of active duty, National Guard, and reserve military personnel in public schools in the U.S.

NMSI's partners in the initiative include the Military Child Education Coalition (MCEC) and the Military Impacted Schools Association (MISA).

The announcement today builds on key steps taken by the Administration. In January, as part of President's "Strengthening our Military Families" directive, the President called to partner with the White House Office of Science and Technology, Department of Defense, and leading nonprofits and companies to expand access for military-connected children to attend AP classes in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Other commitments in the directive included: expanding access to counseling, protecting families from abusive financial practices, reducing homelessness among veterans, expanding career development and educational opportunities for military spouses, and increasing the availability of and quality of child care.

About NMSI: NMSI was launched in 2007 by top leaders in business, education, and science to reverse the United States' troubling decline in math and science education. NMSI is focused on improving the American public school system by replicating programs nationally that have documented success: the AP Training and Incentive Program (APTIP) to expand the number high school students mastering college-level Advanced Placement* courses, and UTeach, a program to recruit and prepare college students to become qualified math, science and computer science teachers. The APTIP approach currently is being implemented in 10 states: Arkansas, Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New Mexico, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia. The UTeach program is being implemented by 22 universities across the United States and enrollment has tripled in the last three years.

About the Initiative for Military Families (IMF): The IMF's mission is to provide consistent, high-level math and science education in high schools serving military bases in the Unites States. The initiative brings college-level math and science courses to students through the Advanced Placement curriculum and provides continuity for students in that coursework when their families are transferred. The program was launched in the 2010-2011 school year in four public high schools: Ellison High School and Harker Heights High School, which serve Fort Hood in Texas, and Hopkinsville High School and Christian County High School, which serve Fort Campbell in Kentucky.

About the Advanced Placement Training and Incentive Program (APTIP): APTIP increases dramatically the performance of high school students in rigorous college-level courses in math, science, and English. The comprehensive APTIP approach increases teacher effectiveness and student achievement through content training, teacher and student support, vertical alignment of teachers, open enrollment, and incentives. Schools participating in the program for the last two years in six states showed a 97.7 percent increase in AP exams passed in math, science, and English, which is seven times the national average.

To view the official White House announcement, please click here. To download the White House fact sheet on the Initiative, click here.

For more information, visit www.nationalmathandscience.org.

*AP and Advanced Placement Program are registered trademarks of the College Board.

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