By Edward Y. So and Carl Guardino
Other than good parents at home, the single biggest indicator of a child’s success in school and in life is a quality teacher in the classroom.
So what is Silicon Valley doing to support teachers? A lot, but not nearly enough.
Yet instead of complaining that the glass is half empty, it is time to shine the light on an innovative effort that benefits our teachers, students, companies and economy.
Industry Initiative for Science and Math Education (IISME) - is one of the best non-profits of which you have probably never heard.
Each summer for the past 22 years, IISME has placed teachers in companies for eight-week paid summer fellowships, which no doubt helps with the high cost of living and housing in our region. The program is a multiple win:
Our teachers win because they receive a hands-on professional development opportunity in the private sector and in research institutions where they can apply their skills and broaden their experiences outside the classroom.
Our students win because the teacher returns to the classroom better equipped to teach our children the technology and business skills they will need to succeed in Silicon Valley.
Our companies win because we benefit from bright, creative and motivated teachers to help on substantive projects during their eight-week summer fellowships.
Our economy wins because teachers link the relevancy of math and science to excellent careers that can inspire our children.
This summer, IISME placed nearly 200 teachers in 51 companies throughout Silicon Valley. Since those teachers are primarily math and science teachers in our middle schools and high schools, each teacher touches the lives and future livelihoods of nearly 150 students. Collectively, IISME annually impacts nearly 30,000 students throughout the region.
We can do better.
Nearly 500 teachers apply each year. While we are proud that the Silicon Valley Leadership Group’s 200 members supplied nearly 90 percent of the summer fellowships, let’s not forget that there are nearly 7,000 technology firms in Silicon Valley. We need more companies to step forward so that we can partner with more teachers and help educate more children.
In the Los Altos, Los Altos Hills and Mountain View area, we are fortunate that companies such as Applied Materials, Lockheed Martin and Applied Biosystems support IISME summer fellows. Eight teachers from our local area schools served as fellows at different companies throughout the Valley. At Intel, Cathy Ashton, a second-grade teacher at Oak Avenue Elementary School, worked as a marketing specialist over the summer. She joined 20 other Intel-sponsored fellows who worked on meaningful projects throughout the organization.
When the Silicon Valley Leadership Group first partnered with IISME seven years ago, we were concerned that once a teacher worked in the private sector, he or she might not return to the classroom. In fact, the opposite is true. Teachers who have participated in the Summer Fellowship Program leave teaching at less than half the rate of their peers. This allows us to keep more experienced, qualified and motivated teachers in our classrooms.
For most teachers, the profession is not just a job, it is a calling. The IISME program simply allows them to enhance their skills, while also providing them with additional income to stay, as teachers, in this high-cost Valley.
Equally important, more than one of every three of those teachers works in a “high need” school - the schools in our poorest neighborhoods teaching our poorest children.
In almost every public opinion poll, education is the top priority of Silicon Valley residents. It is also the top priority of almost every CEO in the region. The stars are aligned for programs like IISME to grow exponentially. Encourage your employer to consider hiring an IISME fellow this year. If you’re a teacher, consider applying for the summer of 2007.
We can show our appreciation to teachers in many ways. The old-fashioned way is to bring them an apple. The Silicon Valley way is to provide them with a summer fellowship supported by companies like Apple.
Let’s make the right choice.
Edward Y. So recently retired from Intel Corp., where he was vice president and director of California technology and manufacturing. Carl Guardino is CEO of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, www.svlg.net. For more information about IISME, visit www.iisme.org.
