Eleven higher education institutions, including community colleges, private liberal arts colleges, and public institutions, will collaborate with local schools and community agencies in the Portland metropolitan area. The overlapping goals of this partnership are three-fold: 1) develop a coherent and coordinated plan to increase and support minority students in mathematics and science education, and work to secure commitments from member institutions to implement the plan; 2) develop a plan for establishing a Middle School Science Program modeled on the successful Middle School Math Program at PSU; 3) develop a plan for a coordinated program of mathematics and science courses recommended for preservice mathematics and science teachers, and include plans for revision and design of courses to be added. Anogher goal is to develop and disseminate an inter-campus catalogue of course listing, descriptions of relevant faculty, programs, placement affiliations, departmental strengths, enrollments, and student demographics. Each goal will be met through task forces dedicated to each of these individually, but with the collective efforts of all task force members who will be informed of developments through electronic bulletin board. The three task forces will each be chaired by teams of two members from the Steering Committee. Each task force will have eight task force leaders responsible for coordinating their task force's activities. Anb additional 22 members will join each task force to develop plans for change in their respective focus area. All plans will be completed to the extent that member institutions should be able to begin implementation by the end of this grant period.
