Bayer USA Foundation
Grantees: In the Spotlight
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ASSET Inc.
Achieving Student Success through Excellence in Teaching
Pittsburgh, PA
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Bayer created ASSET, a standards-based elementary school science education reform
program, in 1994 as part of its national award-winning
Making Science Make Sense® initiative. While ASSET is now an independent
nonprofit organization, Bayer has remained a staunch supporter and has used it as
a model to spearhead other science education reform initiatives around the country.
Bayer Corporation recently applauded ASSET for being selected by the U.S. Department
of Education to receive a $22.3 million Investing in Innovation (i3) grant, a part
of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
This achievement for ASSET is the latest in a long history of growth over the last
16 years.
- In the early years, with ASSET beginning as a pilot program in five schools in two
local school districts, Bayer provided most of the financial, human and intellectual
resources for the project.
- In 1995, ASSET garnered the first of what would become $5 million in National Science
Foundation grants, helping it provide its system of teacher professional development
and hands-on, inquiry centered curriculum materials to more schools throughout the
region.
- In 2000, when the NSF grants concluded, Bayer once again helped ASSET transition
to a fee-for-service organization, allowing it to become independent and self-sustaining.
- Since 2006, ASSET has received more than $56.9 million from the State of Pennsylvania
to implement its program statewide for the Pennsylvania Department of Education
under the name “Science Its Elementary.”
- Today, ASSET provides hands-on, inquiry-based science and math professional development
and materials to 180 school districts, 5,000 teachers and 142,000 students around
the state.
To learn more about ASSET, visit www.assetinc.org.
