Questions about the Math/Science Partnership Program in the
 "No Child Left Behind" Act

What is the Math/Science Partnership Program?

• Created by the "No Child Left Behind" Act (NCLB).
• Program allows local school districts and college math/science/engineering schools to form partnerships to improve K-12 math and science education.
• Businesses and business organizations can participate in the partnership.
• NCLB is targeted to high-need school districts with low-income populations.

What are the goals of the Math/Science Partnership Program?

• Encourage higher education institutions to take greater responsibility for improving math and science teacher education.
• Ensure that math and science teacher education is a career-long process.
• Bring teachers together with scientists, mathematicians, and engineers to improve their skills.
• Develop more rigorous curricula aligned to academic standards expected for post-secondary study in engineering, math, and science.

How does the funding for the program work?

• "No Child Left Behind" Act authorizes up to $450 million annually to be allocated to states based on each state’s relative share of the number of students in poverty
• The states allocate funds by competitive grant application to eligible local partnerships for a period of three years.
• If any year’s funding is below $100 million nationally, as occurred in 2002 (only $12.5 million), the Secretary of Education will award grants directly to partnerships.

How is this program different from the math/science partnership program in the National Science Foundation?

• The NSF Math/Science Partnership program and the NCLB Math/Science Partnership program are designed to be complimentary, not competitive. The Math/Science Partnership Working Group supports both programs.
• The NSF partnership program is an innovative program designed to study what types of partnerships will bring the greatest improvement to student achievement in math and science. The NCLB Math/Science Partnership is funding programs that have already proven successful.
• The NSF program is not designed to serve every state. The NCLB partnerships are designed to serve every state.

"Aren’t there flexible funds available in "No Child Left Behind" to increase funding for the Math/Science Partnerships?"

• There are flexible funds available through NCLB. However, such flexibility does not guarantee funding for the Math/Science Partnerships.
• Dedicated federal funding for the Math/Science partnership underscores math and science proficiency as a national priority. The $12.5 million appropriated represents a substantial reduction in dedicated federal funding for math and science (reduced from $375 million).
• NCLB requires the states to have all students tested in math and reading by 2004, and in science by 2006. Congress provided $1 billion to assist the states in improving reading proficiency. There is no similar dedicated revenue stream for math or science.
• The Math/Science Partnership needs to be fully funded now, to prepare students for the mandatory tests in math and science.
• Teachers "teaching out of field" in math and science is a major problem, especially in low-income school districts.

For More Information: 
Contact Matthew Page, Director of Procurement Policy and Workforce Issues, 202.682.4439

This page was last updated on 06/23/04.  
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