SACRAMENTO — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell today congratulated two California teachers who were selected as recipients of the prestigious Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. The teachers are Ana England and Janet English.

"These two teachers serve as models for their colleagues with their innovative methods of improving math and science education in secondary schools," said O'Connell. "This is the kind of leadership I hope to duplicate statewide with my High Performing High School initiative that is designed to better prepare California students for college or the job market."

O'Connell's High Performing High School initiative is a cornerstone of his reform efforts to improve high school student performance, reduce the bureaucratic burden on schools, and to keep all California students on the right track toward continued improvement in academic achievement.

England is the secondary mathematics national awardee. She is a National Board Certified teacher in early adolescence mathematics. England chairs the math department at Lakeview Middle School, Pajaro Valley Unified School District, Santa Cruz County. She teaches math and an interactive math program (IMP) that she was instrumental in creating when the school opened in 1996. England is an IMP teacher trainer, a district mentor teacher, and a middle grades math renaissance cluster leader.   She serves on the advisory board of Insights Into Algebra (a video project of the Public Broadcasting System's WNET/Annenberg), and was featured in the PBS video Algebraic Thinking Math Project.

English is the secondary science national awardee . She is an eighth grade science teacher at Serrano Intermediate School, Saddleback Valley Unified School District, Orange County. English also was an instructor for the Apple Teacher Institute and the Apple Colleges of Education. She developed the Schoolhouse Video Project with PBS station KCOE that received national recognition in 2003. The Project used cutting-edge technology to create scientific demonstrations, news reports, and vignettes that were broadcast to four million Southern Californians. English was a committee member of the defense investment initiative that supports displaced scientists and engineers willing to make the transition to teaching in inner-city schools. English also recently participated in the International Educators to Japan program.

The awards, which are sponsored by the White House and administered by the National Science Foundation, are considered the nation's highest honor for math and science teachers in kindergarten through grade twelve. Every year up to 108 National Awardees receive a $10,000 award, a paid trip for two to Washington, D.C. to attend a weeklong series of networking opportunities and recognition events, and a special citation signed by the President of the United States. The competition alternates each year between teachers of kindergarten through grade six and grades seven through twelve. For more on the Presidential Awards Program, please visit Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings [http://www.paemst.org/] (Outside Source).

For more information on O'Connell's High Performing High School initiative, please visit State of Education - Initiatives.