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Article Launched: 10/28/2007 01:44:42 AM PDT

Knowledge-gap Initiatives

Mercury News

MATH, SCIENCE INITIATIVES  Alarmed by the state of science education in Silicon Valley, corporations and foundations are promoting richer curriculum, importing successful programs and funding help for teachers. Here are new initiatives that caught our attention.

 STEM: Silicon Valley Education Foundation is in the hunt for a big foundation grant for its new initiative, Science, Technology, Engineering and Math to promote the sciences. There are several components:

 LessonOPOLY will be an open-source tool for teachers to swap and rate high-quality lesson plans for all grades, especially in math and science. It will be oriented to the 12,000 K-12 teachers in Santa Clara County (see www.lessonopoly.org <http://www.lessonopoly.org> . for the beta site).

 Innovation grants of $500 are available for classroom science teachers in Santa Clara County for resources and equipment.

 Math summer school for incoming middle school students is in the works. About 10 percent of 18,000 students countywide are proficient in Algebra I by the end of seventh grade. The foundation's goal is to double that number, putting students on track to take calculus in high school.  (East Side Union High School District has formed a foundation to revive the once-heralded Jose Valdes Summer Math Institute, which also offered advanced classes to minority students. See www.valdesmath.org <http://www.valdesmath.org> . for details about a fundraising dinner next month).  Walden West: Over the past 50 years, many children have spent their first night under the stars and taken their first walk in the forest at Walden West, a year-round, 35-acre environmental education center at Sanborn County Park. Until now, it has offered a weeklong camp for fifth and sixth graders. Soon, it will be open to students from kindergarten through high school on a day-trip basis. This should greatly expand the affordability and opportunities for urban kids to learn in an outdoor classroom. Owned and operated by the Santa Clara County Office of Education, Walden West has rebuilt its cabins and lodge and will build two classrooms, if it can raise the last $4.5 million out of an $11 million capital campaign.