NEW ORLEANS, La., Feb. 6 — Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA) has been accepted as a partner in 100Kin10, a multi‐sector network addressing the national imperative to train 100,000 science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) teachers by 2021.

Xavier is the only university in Louisiana and the only HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) nationally in the collaboration.

As part of its commitment to 100Kin10, Xavier will provide hands‐on professional development for 225 STEM teachers (including elementary) through workshops and site‐visits led by STEM professionals, with activities that are culturally sensitive to the community and students with special needs.

In addition, the University will also prepare 110 teachers (50% will be elementary) who will be trained to work with students in urban high needs schools and districts, highly knowledgeable in STEM content areas, and culturally sensitive to special needs of the inner‐city community.

“Xavier is delighted to have been selected to join this elite group of organizations and foundations committed to training 100,000 STEM teachers over the next ten years,” said Xavier President Dr. Norman C. Francis. “STEM literacy and the importance of ensuring that our nation is fully prepared to address the current STEM teacher shortage is a national priority and one that we at Xavier stand ready to address.”

“We especially look forward to collaborating with the growing number of more than 150 partners currently in the network in order that we can share our own STEM successes while learning new and innovative practices and concepts that will help ensure America’s leadership in this critical area,” he said.

More and better‐trained STEM teachers are essential to prepare America’s students to fully participate in our democracy and to understand and respond to complex national and global challenges. To compete in the global marketplace and provide opportunity to all young Americans, all students – not just those fortunate enough to attend certain schools— must have basic STEM skills and knowledge. Xavier is one of nearly 200 100Kin10 partners unified by a single, ambitious goal: to prepare all students with the high‐quality STEM knowledge and skills to equip them for success in college and the workplace.

With 65 percent of its incoming freshmen focusing on a STEM discipline, XULA has perfected the model in successfully guiding and educating minority STEM students. The university’s success has been well‐documented. According to data compiled by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), in 2011 Xavier was the top producer of African‐American students who earned medical degrees – besting the nation’s most prestigious schools including Harvard, Yale and Stanford. Sixty of its alumni graduated from medical schools across the country compared to 22 Harvard graduates, 21 Yale graduates and 20 Stanford graduates.

According to the American Institute of Physics (AIP), the university is first in the nation in awarding African‐Americans baccalaureate degrees in physics and the physical sciences. The university is consistently ranked by the American Chemical Society as one of the top 25 universities in the nation in awarding bachelor’s degrees in chemistry. The National Science Foundation ranks XULA ninth on its list of schools whose minority alumni complete a PhD. Xavier is also one of the nation’s top producers of African‐American Doctor of Pharmacy graduates.

“Xavier has had a long standing commitment to preparing highly qualified STEM teachers and this new partnership with 100Kin10 supports our efforts on a national level,” said Dr. Rosalind Pijeaux Hale, an XULA professor in the Division of Education and Counseling. ”We are looking forward to collaborating with the other partners to share our successes and also learn from them. Together we will reach the goal of 100Kin10.”

Organizations are accepted as 100Kin10 partners following a rigorous vetting process conducted by a team of partner reviewers and the University of Chicago. Reviewers are looking for organizations that bring innovation, boldness, and a proven track‐record to their commitment(s) toward expanding, improving, and retaining the best of the nation’s STEM teaching force, or building the 100Kin10 movement.

As partners fulfill their ambitious commitments and work together to spark innovation, they have access to exclusive opportunities—including competitive research opportunities, solution labs, collaboration grants, a growing research and learning platform, and a funding marketplace. Each of these is designed to foster collaborative problem‐solving and support partners in fulfilling their ambitious commitments.

In January 2014, 100Kin10 launched its third fund with $5 million and leadership from The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, JPMorgan Chase, and the Overdeck Family Foundation. To date, 100Kin10 funding partners have committed more than $57 million in support of the work of the partners. Over $31 million has already been distributed to partner organizations in 99 grants since the first fund launched in June 2011.

In the first two years of the effort, 100Kin10 partners who have committed to increase the supply of great STEM teachers have recruited and prepared 12,412 teachers. They are projected to prepare just shy of 37,000 teachers by 2016, five years into the project’s ten‐year timeline. The network’s continued growth (through organizations such as those announced here) will add to this total number. In addition, nearly 75 partners are working to support and improve existing teachers so that more of them stay in the profession, with the goal of over time reducing the need for so many new teachers entering the workforce.

About 100Kin10

100Kin10 is a multi‐sector network that responds to the national imperative to train and retain 100,000 excellent science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) teachers by 2021.

About Xavier

Xavier University of Louisiana, the only historically Black, Catholic university in the United States, is a private, co‐educational institution offering a comprehensive liberal arts program and professional programs, including 41 undergraduate majors, seven master’s degree programs and a doctor of pharmacy program. More than one‐half of its 3,100 students are from Louisiana, but it draws students from nearly all fifty states and 35 countries. Selected in 2014 as both a “Best Buy” for academics and affordability by the Fiske Guide to Colleges and one of the nation’s “Best 376 Colleges” by The Princeton Review, Xavier is nationally recognized for its success in the sciences, where it annually leads the nation in the number of African American students earning undergraduate degrees in biology, chemistry and physics. Xavier is also No. 1 in the nation in the number of African American graduates who go on to complete medical school, while its College of Pharmacy – one of only two pharmacy schools in Louisiana – is among the nation’s top three producers of African American Doctor of Pharmacy degree recipients. For more information contact Xavier University of Louisiana, 1 Drexel Drive, New Orleans LA 70125, Phone: 504‐520‐7568, Fax 504‐520‐7933.

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Source: Xavier University of Louisiana