This prototype project includes several activities to strengthen minority education from the early grades through the baccalaureate degree. It was developed under the leadership of California State University-Los Angeles, with cooperation from other California State University institutions in the Los Angeles Basin, the Los Angeles School System, and business and industry. During the first year of operation, a set of activities, based on science and mathematics experiences, and designed to nurture, encourage and motivate minority students, are being implemented. These include a Minority Math/Science Program, a retention activity focussed at the undergraduate level, which is patterned after a successful, ongoing Minority Engineering Program established earlier in the region. Critical elements of this program include academic support, tutoring, personal counseling, a student study center, summer job placement assistance, and participation in student organizations. At the precollege level, a Saturday Science Project for elementary school students and teachers is being offered. Science Skills Centers which offer enriched classroom experiences for students and provide a setting for undertaking improvements in junior high mathematics are being established. In addition, a Summer Science Institute is being conducted in which curriculum development activities occur, through joint efforts by university and precollege faculty.
