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Alabama Directs $35.8M to STEM Initiative
Alabama Gov. Bob Riley and lawmakers recently gave the state's Department of Education a substantial boost by increasing the budget for the Alabama Math, Science and Technology Initiative (AMSTI) by two-thirds for fiscal year 2008 – a leading example in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education.
Historically, Alabama has ranked low in educational attainment compared to the rest of the country. In 2005, Alabama ranked 47th in the nation in percentage of adults age 25 or older with a bachelor’s degree or higher (see the Nov. 27, 2006 Useful Stats table in the Digest). However, last week, Gov. Riley signed into law a record education budget, investing more funding than ever before in Alabama’s history. AMSTI, the Department of Education’s initiative to improve math and science teaching statewide, will receive $35.8 million, a significant increase from the FY07 appropriation of $22 million.
Created in 2002 as a pilot program, the initiative is similar to one of the proposed goals within the America COMPETES Act, introduced in Congress in March. Schools in Alabama become official AMSTI schools by sending all math and science teachers and administrators to summer institutes where they receive extensive math and science training. Teachers must attend the two-week program for two consecutive summers, and upon completion, they are provided with all of the math and science equipment and materials needed to conduct hands-on training in their classrooms.
The program has proved to be a success throughout the state, and the summer institutes have expanded into 10 regions. According to the Alabama Department of Education, students in AMSTI schools scored higher on the Stanford Achievement Test in math, science and reading on the Alabama High School Graduation Exam, compared to schools with similar demographics that did not participate in the program.
The program’s success is now the focus of a study being conducted by the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences. The study, The Effectiveness of the Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative, measures the impact of the program on student achievement over 2006-09.
More information about AMSTI is available at: http://www.amsti.org/