American Competitiveness Initiative - Education

Education

The ACI proposes $380 million in new Federal funds to invest in the Nation’s education system.

• Advanced Placement/International Baccalaureate (AP/IB) Program:
  • $122 million investment
  • Train additional 70,000 AP/IB math and science teachers in five years with matching dollar contributions from states and the private sector
  • Increase the number of AP/IB math and science tests passed by low-income students from 230,000 to 700,000
  • Increase funding to $122 million with specific emphasis on math and science
  • Offer incentives and training to teachers to become AP/IB math and science teachers
  • Subsidize AP/IB testing fees for low-income students
• Establish an Adjunct Teacher Corps program to encourage up to 30,000 math and science professionals to become adjunct high school teachers by the year 2015
  • $25 million investment to encourage partnerships between school districts and public or private organizations involved in science, math, and engineering

• Improve classroom instructional methods and materials by establishing a National Math Panel ($10 million investment) to evaluate the effectiveness of various ways of teaching math and science

• Math Now (combined $250 million investment) for
  • Elementary students: help prepare students for advanced math courses in middle and high school
  • Middle School students: help diagnose and remedy students lacking proficient math skills and better align instruction with No Child Left Behind (NCLB) goals

• Evaluation of Federal Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education programs to gauge effectiveness in meeting stated goals ($5 million investment)

• Inclusion of Science Assessments in NCLB accountability