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SACRAMENTO — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell today announced a total of 30 grantees will receive $23.2 million in California Mathematics and Science Partnership (CaMSP) grants. The Imperial County Office of Education received $ 867,357.00 for mathematics.

"In order to prepare all California students for future jobs that will be more technologically based in our increasingly global economy, they must have a good understanding of math and science," said O’Connell.  "These funds will help children succeed in these courses by enhancing the skills of the math and science teachers who educate them.  The grantees were selected because they had the best plans to achieve this goal."

CaMSP is a competitive grant funded through the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.  Twelve awardees in Cohort 4 received $10.5 million in CaMSP grants.  A cohort is a group of school districts with similar qualities specifically identified by the California Department of Education to track its progress. Another 18 previously funded CaMSP programs in Cohort 2 had the opportunity to apply for one-time continued funding through the Mid-Course Performance Review process and received an additional $12.7 million in funding.  Each grantee was eligible for up to $1 million in funding, depending on the amount requested in its plan. 

The ultimate goal of CaMSP is to improve the academic achievement of students in math and science.  Eligible applicants must be a "high-need local education agency."  That means the applicant serves a student population where at least 40 percent of the pupils qualify for the National School Lunch Program.  In order to impact students in a variety of learning situations throughout the state, every attempt is being made to fund a CaMSP in each of the eleven superintendents’ regions throughout California.

CaMSP requires local education agencies to partner with their local universities and colleges.  Together, they would develop opportunities to improve the skills of math educators teaching grades five through Algebra 1, and science educators teaching grades four through eight.  These partnerships are designed to implement the State Board of Education’s kindergarten through grade eight adopted instructional materials, which support California’s mathematics and science academic content standards.  This program is also designed to benefit math and science teachers throughout their careers, continuously stimulate their intellectual growth, and upgrade their knowledge and skills.