Silicon Valley Public-Private Partnership Funds Grants to Support Elevating Math Achievement

    SANTA ANA, CA, August 01, 2009 /24-7PressRelease/ -- This fall, the Silicon Valley Math Initiative, will provide thousands of students and their teachers at 24 schools and 13 school districts in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties with a unique software-based approach to learning math. The Silicon Valley Math Initiative is a new 5-year community partnership between the non-profit education researcher and publisher MIND Research Institute, the Santa Clara County Office of Education, and local corporate and private supporters such as Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Herrick, Price Waterhouse Coopers, and the Cisco Foundation.

"The math education crisis in America requires a commitment to innovation in our schools," said Ted Smith, Chairman & CEO of MIND Research Institute. "As a spin-out from UC Irvine, MIND developed K-5 and middle school research-based instructional software that engages students and is effective in helping them learn math. Over 118,000 students in 16 states are succeeding with the software. In the Orange County Math Initiative, launched in low-performing schools in 2008, there is excellent progress being made and it is being expanded to 95 schools this Fall."

MIND's ST Math instructional software is already being implemented in 23 schools in the San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties and has positively benefited sites such as Anderson Elementary in San Jose where after using the program for one year; the percent of 2nd grade students at proficiency increased by 26 points to 46% and 4th graders increased 30 points to 39%. In addition, the overall Academic Performance Index for the school as a whole increased by 36 points versus a one year target of just 8 points.

Schools participating in the math initiative receive the ST Math instructional software, intensive training and support for instructors, and professional development in leadership training for administrators.

"In this year of continued school budget cuts, this is an unusually generous offer," said Chuck Weis, Superintendent of the Santa Clara County Office of Education. "We look forward to this partnership and supporting those public schools with the greatest growth potential."

About MIND Research Institute

The MIND Research Institute is a neuroscience and education research based, non-profit corporation. MIND applies its distinctive visual approach to illustrating concepts and building problem-solving skills as the basis for innovative, research-proven math education programs for elementary and secondary schools. The programs include the ST Math patent-pending instructional software for K-5 students, ST Math : Secondary intervention at the secondary level, and Algebra Readiness - a comprehensive program featuring a tightly integrated textbook and courseware. MIND's visual approach taps into each student's innate ability to do spatial-temporal (ST) reasoning and problem-solving, and is effective at engaging students at all levels of language or academic proficiency. There are currently 500 schools in California, Texas and 18 other states, and more than 100,000 students and 4,500 teachers participating in the program. For more information, visit http://www.mindresearch.net.

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