“Through our support for the NAF Academies, we’re trying to help schools bring more relevance and rigor to the teaching of math and technology so students get excited about these subjects and so they get the preparation they need to succeed."
-- Carolyn McCullen, Director of Education Initiatives, SAS
Accomplished link
About 70,000 students, mostly from low-income households, attend NAF academies in 565 schools across 36 states. Ninety-six percent of NAF seniors graduated in 2013, and more than half of NAF graduates earn bachelor’s degrees in 4-years—compared with less than a third of high school graduates overall. Evaluations show that NAF graduates earn significantly more than similar students who graduate from other high schools. NAF aims to reach 100,000 students by 2020.
Employees of more than 2,500 companies volunteer in classrooms, act as mentors, engage NAF students in paid internships, and serve on local advisory boards.
Patricia Brown, National Director, Corporate Engagement
pbrown@naf.org
513-515-9516
The programs in this database clear a high bar. STEMworks reviewed each program against the Design Principles for Effective STEM Philanthropy.
Identify and target a compelling and well-defined need.
Use rigorous evaluation to continuously measure and inform progress towards the compelling need identified.
Ensure work is sustainable.
Demonstrate replicability and scalability.
Create high impact partnerships
Ensure organizational capacity to achieve goals.
Offer challenging and relevant STEM content for the target audience
Incorporate and encourage STEM practices.
Inspire interest and engagement in STEM.
Identify and address the needs of under-represented groups.