A K-12 Public Education Initiative of the
Massachusetts High Technology Council, Inc.
For 30 years the Massachusetts High Technology Council has been dedicated to
improving the state’s public education system. In 2005, this commitment to K-12 advancement led
Genzyme’s Chairman, President and CEO, Henri Termeer, Analog Devices’ Chairman, Ray Stata and
Council President Chris Anderson to convene a diverse group of education stakeholders – teachers, union
and business leaders – to develop consensus for a strategy that improves educator quality and
student’s learning environment. For 18 months, this leadership group has been meeting regularly, and the
areas of fundamental agreement that emerged have given educators, business and government leaders a clear
action strategy for the future of public education in the Commonwealth and implementation has already begun.
Massachusetts is the national leader in education, boasting top ranking in math
and science testing among peer states. National preeminence, however, is no longer the measure of true success
and we are swiftly losing ground to our rapidly rising peers from China, Europe, Singapore and India. In order to
remain a premier global technology cluster, Massachusetts must transform itself into a sustainable global center
of math and science education.
In response to the global imperative to create internationally competitive schools
and skilled technology workers that propel the state’s economy, the Massachusetts High Technology Council
has created the Fund for World
Class Schools.
The Fund’s mission is to:
- Support strategies that transform Massachusetts public schools into premier centers of math and science education with a more globally competitive education system;
- Bolster educator quality and systems change initiatives through teacher training, professional development and initiatives that create a more professional and innovative environment for teachers
- Serve as a focused, results-oriented vehicle for personal and corporate philanthropy aimed at improving Massachusetts public schools.
Program support will be guided by the priorities set forth in the Council’s CEO Survey and will focus on training
and supporting math and science teachers and increased student performance in STEM content areas.
The Fund for World Class Schools will be managed as a Donor Advised Fund (DAF) by The Boston Foundation (TBF). This
structure offers a unique opportunity to tap into TBF’s expertise in fundraising and fund management. As a DAF,
the Council will maintain oversight of all investments through an advisory committee. More importantly, however, is the
opportunity to leverage investments selected by the Fund for World Class Schools with similar investments from the Boston
Foundation, thus dramatically increasing the return on investments made by Fund contributors.
Among the initial programs we have identified as a potential funding target is the Mass AP initiative. Massachusetts
is a finalist for a $13 million grant from ExxonMobil to create a state program to encourage more schools and students
to participate – and succeed – in Advanced Placement (AP) courses. Applying the successful Texas AP model,
the program maximizes college readiness in math, science and English for higher numbers of Massachusetts students through
increased participation in AP programs and higher pass rates.
The National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI) is a nonprofit entity created by ExxonMobil to facilitate the national scale-up of
programs that have demonstrated improvement in math and science education in the US.
AP Strategies, supported by NMSI, is a separate nonprofit that works with Texas schools and the private sector to plan and manage
Advanced Placement and Pre-AP Training and Incentive Programs (APTIP) for students, teachers, and schools, using the key elements of
using AP tools and incentives to improve the performance of all students in both regular and AP classes.
AP Strategies has shown strong success in Texas: in 10 Dallas schools, the number of students per 1,000
juniors and seniors that scored 3 or higher on mathematics, science and English AP exams was just two-thirds of the national average.
Ten years later, these schools are two-thirds above the national average. Within five years, NMSI will have an additional 150 districts
in 20 states implementing APTIP with more than 50,000 students scoring 3 or higher on AP exams in math, science and English than
otherwise would have.
To achieve these results, the Advanced Placement Training and Incentive Programs provide:
- Rigorous formal and informal training for math, science, and English AP teachers;
- Lead teachers to coach less experienced AP and pre-AP teachers;
- More time on task for students;
- Financial incentives based on academic performance.
ExxonMobil has invested $125 million in NMSI, targeted on a competitive basis at ten states to
replicate the AP Strategies’ Texas success. The program calls for a principal organizing partner in each state that is a
nonprofit or foundation with a strong track record in managing statewide education reform initiatives.
By supporting Mass AP, the Fund for World Class Schools will help targeted efforts that are
reflective of the education strategy that we developed earlier this year, specifically:
- Raise 6th -12th grade teacher capacity in math, science and English, to align their skills and knowledge with those needed for students’ success in Advanced Placement;
- Establish higher education-based collaborative regional centers of training so that middle and high school teachers have resources to draw on to increase their content knowledge and teaching skills. Mass AP will be a centerpiece of the regional Math and Science Teacher Development Centers, proposed by the Great Schools Campaign, as partnerships among districts and higher education institutions;
- Align the state’s fragmented AP programs. Many of these are doing excellent work, but they would be significantly more effective as part of a statewide and regional strategy. The program will take the best work in disparate classrooms and build it into a larger framework of excellence;
- Organize partners outside the educational system to help move the state to institutionalize incentives, teacher training, and other programs that support a common strategy.
