Through STREaM Academy, a learning center that was developed to provide tutoring, we are implementing practices that we have learned from research regarding the instructional approaches to effectively change teaching and learning. We are answering this call for change because there is hard data that says educational services need to be presented differently to help student’s academic progress in the most effective way.

The National Academies of Science, in their 2005 blue-ribbon panel report, Rising Above the Gathering Storm, found:

• Only 29 percent of 4th grade students, 32 percent of 8th grade students, and 18 percent of 12th grade students performed at or above the proficient level in science;
• Almost 30 percent of high school mathematics students and 60 percent of those enrolled in physical science have teachers who either did not major in the subject in college or are not certified to teach it;
• The U.S. ranks 16th of 17 nations in the proportion of 24-year-olds who earn degrees in natural science or engineering as opposed to other majors; and,
• Those undergraduates who switch from science and engineering majors to other majors “are often among the most highly qualified college entrants. Research shows that they are disproportionately women and students of color.”

“The Academy was created to serve all learners, children as well as adults. A personal mission is to increase the numbers of students of color taking coursework and entering careers in the ‘hard sciences’ including the most important of those subjects: reading and mathematics. By undertaking this entrepreneurial endeavor, I hope to bring my professional mission in line with my personal mission for the benefit of countless numbers of students.” – Dr. Thatch