Bechtel Foundation Awards $1.6 Million to UC Davis

The University of California, Davis has announced a four-year, $1.6 million grant from the S.D. Bechtel Jr. Foundation to help raise student achievement in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) across thirty-four schools in Davis and Dixon, California.

Through the Innovations in STEM Teaching, Achievement, and Research (I-STAR) project, the UC Davis School of Education will bring together a team of math and science teachers from the Davis Joint Unified School District and Dixon Unified School District with faculty from the university to design learning experiences that focus on reasoning as the path to STEM mastery. I-STAR participants will work to measure outcomes of the program by examining student test scores and by interviewing and observing students in classrooms to assess improvements in their reasoning skills.

"Our foundation believes strongly in the importance of STEM learning in developing an informed student population," said S.D. Bechtel Jr. Foundation program officer Julie Kidd. "We are happy to be partnering with UC Davis and the school districts of Davis and Dixon to implement innovative approaches to STEM learning that can be shared across the state and beyond."

“$1.6 Million Grant to Raise STEM Achievement in K-12 Schools.” University of California, Davis Press Release 7/09/12.

Primary Subject: Education
Secondary Subject(s): Elementary and Secondary Education, Science/Technology
Location(s): California, Davis, Dixon

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