ASSET Announces School Districts and Charter Schools Selected to Participate in its $26 Million Investing in Innovation (i3) Grant Program

PITTSBURGH, Jan. 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Today ASSET Inc. (Achieving Student Success through Excellence in Teaching) announced the school district and charter school participants for its Advanced Professional Development (PD) Program made possible through a federal Investing in Innovation (i3) Grant.

"Through this i3 Grant," said Dr. Helen Sobehart, executive director of ASSET Inc., "ASSET has the opportunity to provide more than 450 teachers from 20 school districts and charter schools across the Commonwealth, the majority of which are deemed high-needs and rural, with access to the higher-level professional development necessary to change classroom practice, enhance student learning, and ultimately impact STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education in Pennsylvania in a major way."

The following school districts and charter schools were selected to participate in ASSET's i3 Program:

• Aliquippa School District - Aliquippa Elementary School
• Aliquippa School District - Aliquippa Junior-Senior High School
• Berlin Brothersvalley School District - Berlin Elementary School
• Brookville Area School District - Hickory Grove Elementary School
• Catasauqua Area School District - Francis H. Sheckler Elementary
• Catasauqua Area School District - Catasauqua Middle School
• Central Cambria School District - Cambria Elementary School
• East Pennsboro School District - East Pennsboro Elementary School
• East Pennsboro School District - West Creek Hills Elementary School
• Farrell Area School District - Farrell Area Elementary School
• Forest Area School District - West Forest Elementary School
• Forest Area School District - East Forest Elementary School
• Fox Chapel Area School District - Kerr Elementary School
• MaST (Math, Science and Technology) Community Charter School
• Meyersdale Area School District - Meyersdale Area Elementary School
• Mountain View School District - Mountain View Elementary School
• Pottsville Area School District - John S. Clarke Elementary Center
• Propel Charter Schools
• Saint Clair Area School District - Saint Clair Elementary/Middle School
• Sharon City School District - C.M. Musser Elementary School
• Southern Tioga School District, Blossburg Elementary School
• Tamaqua Area School District - Rush Elementary School
• Tamaqua Area School District - Tamaqua Elementary School
• West Branch Area School District - West Branch Elementary School

School districts and charter schools participating in ASSET's i3 Program were selected through a rigorous, highly-competitive application process, which included 33 districts submitting applications totaling more than 750 teachers.  

Participating school district and charter school teams will participate in the ASSET i3 Launch Meeting on Wednesday, January 26 at the Nittany Lion Inn in State College, Pa. to learn more about how their science teachers will engage in ASSET's five-year Advanced PD Program.

The i3 grant enables ASSET to build upon the infrastructure already established through the statewide Science: It's Elementary initiative, which the education improvement nonprofit designs and manages in partnership with the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

ASSET was one of 49 organizations nationwide selected to receive an i3 grant from the U.S. Department of Education. In addition to the Advanced PD Program, ASSET will use grant funds to establish Regional Professional Development Centers and Satellite Sites across the state, expanding the reach of its hands-on, inquiry-based science and math training and materials for teachers and students not involved in the i3 Grant.

For more information regarding ASSET's i3 grant program, please visit www.assetinc.org.

About ASSET Inc.

Established in 1994 by Bayer Corporation and several community partners, ASSET Inc. is an education improvement nonprofit that supports school districts in implementing a standards-based science education program through teacher professional development aligned with hands-on curriculum materials for grades K-8. In partnership with the Pennsylvania Department of Education, ASSET also designs and manages Pennsylvania's Science: It's Elementary initiative. Independent evaluation results show that 4th-grade students in ASSET member schools scored statistically significantly higher than their peers in science and significantly higher in reading and math.  ASSET currently impacts 180 school districts, 5,000 teachers and 142,000 students. For more information, visit www.assetinc.org.

The contents of this news release were developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Investing in Innovation (i3) Program. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal government.

This $25,933,599 project was financed as part of a U.S. Department of Education Grant awarded to ASSET Inc. The percentage of total program dollars funded with federal money is 79% or $20,230,572. The percentage of total program dollars funded with non-federal matching money is 21% or $5,703,027.

SOURCE ASSET Inc.