The Public Health Pipeline Program supported efforts by two education organizations from 1998 to 2003 to build the capacity of educational systems to improve science education for students in grades six through nine.

It was authorized by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's (RWJF) Board of Trustees in October 1997 for $2 million.

Key Results
Two organizations were involved in the program:

• The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) in Alexandria, Va., initiated public health education projects in 10 middle and high schools across the country.
  • The 10 middle and high school education projects involved a total of about 2,190 students in a range of educational activities aimed at increasing understanding of the public health field. For example:
    • Some students in Cambridge, Mass., investigated the public health impacts of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
    • Students in Pawtucket, R.I., created a video and other educational tools that address the danger of lead poisoning.
  • ASCD published and distributed a book — Education and Public Health: Natural Partners in Learning for Life — describing the 10 projects and the lessons learned from the schools' experiences.
• The National Science Resources Center (NSRC) — jointly operated by the National Academies and the Smithsonian Institution developed a basic science curriculum for middle school students, conducting 100 teacher workshops, and working with leadership teams representing 750 school districts to reform their K–8 science education programs.
  
  These districts represent 20 percent of the K–8 student population in the United States.
  • The NSRC's activities built the capacity of elementary and middle school teachers and their school districts to increase students' scientific literacy that would include an increased awareness of the role of public health in their lives as well as their career options.
  • The NSRC created and disseminated research-based science courses that addressed health topics and worked with hundreds of school districts to build the capacity of the educational system to support the implementation of a quality science curriculum in all science areas.
  • Of the eight courses developed, the NSRC published and disseminated two new life science courses for middle school students.
    • One, entitled Human Body Systems, focused on human physiology and health, and included a Web site with extensive information on public health topics and careers.
    • The other, Organisms: Macro to Micro, dealt with the developmental stages of organisms.
    • Each unit included separate guidebooks for students and teachers.
  • These course materials provided students with the opportunity to develop a conceptual understanding of important science concepts as well as critical-thinking and problem-solving skills needed to make informed decisions based on evidence.
    
    This combination of knowledge and skills is essential to both students and adults when facing decisions regarding health and health-related careers.
  • As of March 2005, NSRC had sold over 6,353 sets of the two new units. Based on a typical class size of 26, the sales figures indicate that more than 165,000 students use the materials annually.
  • Through this project, the NSRC also developed a network of 59 organizations dedicated to improving science education and partnered with these groups to put on conferences and other outreach events across the country.
  • As a result of these efforts, the NSRC has engaged over 6,000 leaders and worked with 750 school districts representing 20 percent of the K–8 student population in the United States. Of these 750 districts, approximately 56 percent represent underserved populations.
• Although RWJF had hoped the two organizations could collaborate, ASCD and NSRC worked separately with little interaction because their missions were incompatible and their constituencies were different. (See The Program for greater detail).

Funding
The funding that RWJF provided NSRC through a grant to the Smithsonian helped match $10 million in grants given to the organization by the National Science Foundation for both curriculum development ($3.9 million) and a project to reform science education throughout the United States ($6.1 million).

Eleven other organizations provided a total of $4.2 million in additional matching funds. See Appendix 1 for a list of other funders.