SANTA ANA : Math Project Wins Golden Bell Award

A mathematics education program aimed at minority youngsters in the Santa Ana Unified School district has won a Golden Bell award from the California School Boards Foundation, foundation officials said Monday.

The program, developed by Cal State Fullerton mathematics professor David L. Pagni, is one of three Santa Ana Unified programs to win first-place prizes in the annual awards competition, said Janice Boatwright, a spokeswoman for the statewide foundation. Golden Bell awards are given each year to exemplary programs developed and put into practice by California teachers and administrators.

SAFEMAP--the Santa Ana-Fullerton Elementary Mathematics Project--is for minority children in grades kindergarten through fifth. The 3-year-old program is jointly funded by Cal State Fullerton, the National Science Foundation and the Santa Ana school district.

Pagni, who directs SAFEMAP, instructs Santa Ana Unified teachers in methods of teaching math to young children. Parental involvement is considered an important component in helping reinforce the child’s learning. SAFEMAP participants also attend a weekend computer camp.

Santa Ana officials said they sought an all-encompassing math program for elementary school children to increase the number of minority students in high school math courses. Educators in the heavily minority district discovered that children who were not successful in math by sixth grade tended not to take college preparatory classes.

Santa Ana Unified also won Golden Bell awards for its reading and language arts program for children with limited English ability at Spurgeon Intermediate School and for its science and environmental education program for limited English speakers at Lathrop Intermediate School.

The awards will be given Saturday at the Sheraton Harbor East hotel in San Diego.