Oakland, CA (February 20, 2013) - The Level Playing Field Institute (LPFI) joined 30 other organizations from around the world last Thursday to receive a Google RISE (Roots in Science and Engineering) Award. Over 800 organizations submitted an application for the highly selective award which is paired with a $5,000-$25,000 grant.
LPFI received the maximum amount of $25,000 to support the expansion of the computer science courses offered through their Summer Math and Science Honors (SMASH) program.
SMASH is a free, 3-year, STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) enrichment program for high-achieving, low-income high school students that come from backgrounds currently underrepresented in STEM fields. The majority of the students (or “SMASH scholars”) in the program are African American and/or Latino – two groups that are vastly underrepresented in STEM fields today. Every summer scholars spend five weeks residing on a college campus taking rigorous STEM courses that (beginning in 2012) included computer science.
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The research team at LPFI, led by Dr. Allison Scott, evaluated the computer science course and found that there was a significant increase in computer science skills and aspirations over the course of the five week program.
“When we saw the results of the computer science course evaluation, we knew we were on to something. SMASH provides many of our scholars with their first opportunity to set foot on a college campus, so the fact that these same scholars are learning how to code and enjoying it was something we knew we had to build upon,” said Dr. Jarvis Sulcer, Executive Director of the Level Playing Field Institute.
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The $25,000 award will support LPFI’s efforts to develop a three-year, comprehensive computer science curriculum, purchase the necessary programs and train instructors. The course will be taught at all four of the current SMASH sites (UC Berkeley, Stanford, UCLA and USC).
“LPFI is incredibly honored to be included among this highly selective group of organizations. This is a significant milestone for us that will assist us in increasing the pipeline of students who will pursue computer science, in particular, among those students who are currently vastly underrepresented in those fields,” said LPFI’s Board Chair, Dr. Harry Bims.
As part of the award, each organization has been invited to send two representatives to a summit this June taking place in London with the 30 other organizations representing 18 countries from around the world.
About Google RISE
Google RISE (Roots in Science and Engineering) Awards are designed to promote and support Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) and Computer Science (CS) education initiatives. Awards are given to those organizations working with K-12/Primary and Secondary schools to provide enrichment programs in these fields.
http://www.google.com/edu/rise/
About Level Playing Field Institute
Level Playing Field Institute (LPFI) is an Oakland based nonprofit committed to eliminating the barriers faced by underrepresented people of color in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and fostering their untapped talent for the advancement of our nation.
LPFI operates the Summer Math and Science Honors (SMASH) program, an education program that has been on the UC Berkeley campus since 2004, the Stanford campus since 2011 and recently opened at both UCLA and USC this past summer. SMASH is expanding to additional campuses nationwide in the future.