Partnering with Indiana to Boost High School Science/Math Prospects

Dr. Tony Bennett, Indiana’s State Superintendent of Public Instruction, joined the University of Notre Dame and other partners on Thursday, April 12, in announcing a new initiative to increase college and career readiness among high school students, especially in the areas of math and science.

The announcement of the “Advanced Placement® Training and Incentive Program in Indiana,” nicknamed AP-TIP IN, which will be administered by Notre Dame’s Institute for Educational Initiatives (IEI), came during an event at which Dr. Christine Maziar, Vice President and Senior Associate Provost, represented the University.

Maziar said the AP-TIP IN program, with its incentives for expanded, expert teaching of AP courses in math, science, and English in 33 selected high schools around Indiana, recognizes “the importance of these disciplines as gateways to further study.”

Solid preparation in college-level science and math will “equip young people with a richer toolkit” for their future careers and citizenship, she told the audience assembled in the Statehouse in Indianapolis. The audience included representatives from the first cohort of nine high schools that will participate during 2012-2013, the initiative’s first year.

Bennett thanked Notre Dame for partnering with the state in this “great leap forward” toward educational excellence. Maziar agreed that the University seeks “to help make a difference in the state that is our home.” Indiana recently announced data that show more schools than ever are reaching the state’s goal for 25 percent of high school graduates to have received qualifying scores of 3, 4, or 5 on the College Board’s Advanced Placement® tests—signs of readiness for college and preparation for the highly technical 21st century workforce

Other AP-TIP IN partners include the National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI), which has made a $7 million grant to implement the additional math, science, and English AP® courses in Indiana, adding the state to seven others that conduct similar programs. Corporate and foundation supporters have also been crucial to the NMSI effort and to the support that Notre Dame’s IEI has already given to AP® teaching in numerous schools.

Among the first nine high schools selected to participate are three in northern Indiana—Concord High School, Elkhart Central High School, and Elkhart Memorial High School. More information about the participating schools and the program in general can be found at the IEI website; go to http://iei.nd.edu, and click on the AP-TIP IN logo.

The IEI is an academic unit of the University that advances Notre Dame’s commitment to K-12 schools. Its director is Rev. Timothy Scully, C.S.C. Notre Dame and the IEI have collaborated in hosting the annual “Notre Dame Forum” series of events for an ongoing, in-depth discussion of issues affecting K-12 education in the United States; find information about the 2011-2012 series at http://forum.nd.edu.

Photo: Panel announces steps to improve science and math teaching in Indiana high schools through the AP-TIP IN initiative administered by Notre Dame’s Institute for Educational Initiatives (IEI). Speaking at the April 12 event in the Statehouse in Indianapolis was Joyce Johnstone, the Ryan Senior Director for Program Development at the IEI. She was joined on stage by (left to right): three Advanced Placement® high school students; Tony Bennett, Indiana’s State Superintendent for Public Instruction; Christine Maziar, Vice President and Senior Associate Provost of the University of Notre Dame; Greg Fleisher, National AP® Training and Incentives Program Director, National Math and Science Initiative; and Karen Morris, AP-TIP IN program director at the IEI.