MSP Start Grantees in the First Cohort: First Year Implementation
Abstract
The Math and Science Partnership (MSP) Program, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), seeks to improve K-12 student achievement in math and science through innovative partnerships with K-12 districts, Institutes of Higher Education (IHEs), and other community and state partners. Through this effort, the NSF supports five types of MSP awards, including the MSP-Start partnerships.According to the NSF solicitation for the MSP-Start (Start) awards (NSF 09-507, p. 2), the grant is for "awardees new to the MSP community, especially from minority-serving institutions, community colleges and primarily undergraduate institutions, to support the necessary data analysis, project design, evaluation and team building activities needed to develop a full MSP Targeted or Institute Partnership." NSF made an initial set of Start awards in 2008. The goals of this report are to: (1) examine the institutional characteristics of the first cohort of Start grantees, and (2) learn about the implementation experience during the first project year primarily from the principal investigators' perspectives.