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Program to Enhance College Readiness Efforts in Irving ISD

A nearly $1 million investment from the Texas Instruments (TI) Foundation and the Irving Schools Foundation (ISF) will equip teachers with the tools they need to teach Advanced Placement® (AP®) courses more effectively at two Irving ISD high schools. Students who excel on AP exams could be rewarded for their success, as well as the teachers who teach them.
 
A $750,000 grant from the TI Foundation and a $150,000 award from ISF will fund the implementation of the National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI) College Readiness Program at two Irving ISD high schools for three years, beginning this school year.
 
“First, we want to thank the TI Foundation and Irving Schools Foundation for their generous investment in the students and teachers of Irving ISD,” says Laina McDonald, Ed.D., assistant superintendent of school leadership. “With this support, our Advanced Placement programs at Irving and Nimitz High Schools will receive ongoing resources for teachers as well as academic support for students.”
 
NMSI’s College Readiness Program offers comprehensive, content-specific training and mentoring, instructional materials and ready-to-use classroom and lab materials for teachers, as well as expert-led study sessions, materials, supplies and mock tests for students. Students and teachers in the program also can receive monetary awards for their work and achievement.
 
“Irving is home to more than 30 national and international companies, where skills in science, technology, engineering and math are critical,” says Michelle Stie, vice president of teaching and learning for NMSI. “We are grateful to the TI Foundation and the Irving Schools Foundation for empowering us to deliver our proven programs in Irving ISD, and we are excited to get to work.”
 
“Irving ISD teachers are some of the best in the business, so we leapt at the chance to partner with Texas Instruments Foundation to offer them reward and recognition for their results in the classroom," says Crystal Scanio, ISF president and CEO. “With the additional training that this grant will provide, we’re confident that those results will be impressive indeed over the next few years.”
 
Already, teachers have participated in training that includes lessons and labs they can deliver to students, and school leaders have worked with NMSI to ensure more students can access AP math, science and English courses.
 
“We need more students to be college-ready, and that includes access to, and success in, challenging math and science classes,” said Andy Smith, Executive Director of the TI Foundation. “The NMSI College Readiness Program addresses this need head-on through a teacher training methodology that continues to show dramatic improvements in student math, science and English Advanced Placement test scores. We’re excited about taking this remarkable, proven program to two schools in the Irving ISD to equip an under-served population of students with the knowledge and skills they will need to succeed after graduation.”
 
NMSI and the College Readiness Program were founded in and continue to be operated from North Texas. More than 1,000 U.S. schools have participated in the program and after the first year, students have increased their number of qualifying AP exam scores by 10 times the national increase. That success is seen across student demographics and it continues to grow through the three-year program.
 
“Through the College Readiness Program, schools transform their cultures, teachers get the support they need, and students are propelled toward their highest potentials,” says Stie. “These investments are a great development for Irving and for the future of North Texas.”