QUALITY EDUCATION FOR MINORITIES (QEM) NETWORK

Math and Science Partnership (MSP) Program One-Day Workshop

Millennium Harvest House • 1345 28^th Street • Boulder, CO • Tel. 866/866-8086 or 303/998-3823

See AGENDA with presentations from the March 12 workshop

QEM hosted a one-day workshop for Tribal Colleges and Universities and their K-12 partners on the new Math and Science Partnership (MSP) Program guidelines (NSF 06-539) that were released by the National Science Foundation (NSF) on February 16, 2006. The workshop took place on Sunday, March 12, 2006, at the Millennium Harvest House, 1345 28^th Street, in Boulder, CO, just prior to the 2006 NSF Regional Grants Conference being held in the same location. Prior to the workshop, participants were asked to prepare and submit a self-contained description of the activity that would result if a proposal were funded. In addition to including a statement of objectives and methods to be used, the one-page summary was required to clearly and separately address both of NSF's two Merit Review Criteria: Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts. NSF Program Officers and QEM consultants were available during the workshop to offer advice and feedback on participants' proposed project descriptions/summaries.

The MSP guidelines are available at http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2006/nsf06539/nsf06539.htm. We encourage you to download and review them to decide whether your institution is interested in seeking support under this program. Optional, but strongly encouraged, letters of intent to submit a proposal are due Friday, April 14, while full proposals are due Wednesday, May 17, 2006.

In the new MSP Solicitation, NSF is seeking proposals for Institute Partnerships-Teacher Institutes for the 21st Century, especially for the science disciplines in the secondary grades and for elementary science specialists, although innovative proposals for all STEM domains are welcome. As stated on Page 4 of the Solicitation, the overall goal of MSP is to improve K-12 student achievement in mathematics and science through a sharp focus on three inter-related issues:

– ensuring that all students have access to, are prepared for, and are encouraged to participate

   and succeed in challenging and advanced mathematics and science courses;
– enhancing the quality, quantity, and diversity of K-12 mathematics and science teacher workforce; and
– developing evidence-based outcomes that contribute to our understanding of how students

   effectively learn mathematics and science.

Reminder: The one-page proposal summary must clearly and separately address both of NSF's two Merit Review Criteria: Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts. The Foundation will return proposals without review that do not separately address the two criteria in the project summary.

If you would like further information, please contact Shirley McBay, Project Director at smmcbay1@qem.org, or by telephone at 202/659-1818.