Public Accountability Report

The internationally recognized Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy® (IMSA) develops creative, ethical leaders in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. As a teaching and learning laboratory created by the State of Illinois, IMSA enrolls academically talented Illinois students (grades 10 - 12) in its advanced, residential college preparatory program, and it serves thousands of educators and students in Illinois and beyond through innovative instructional programs that foster imagination and inquiry. IMSA also advances education through research, groundbreaking ventures, and strategic partnerships.

• IMSA continued to infuse the United National 17 Sustainable Development Goals into its curriculum, instruction, outreach, and service learning programs. In fact, students completed over 50,000 hours of volunteer service focused on the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, including zero hunger, no poverty, clean water, and affordable energy.
• Niche.com ranked IMSA as the #1 Public High School in Illinois and #8 in the U.S.
• The IMSA Fusion program continued to expand, even virtually throughout last year. Fusion is a teacher professional development and student STEM enrichment program for Illinois students who are talented, interested, and motivated in mathematics and science. IMSA Fusion places a special emphasis on students who are historically underrepresented in those areas.  
• IMSA’s Center for Teaching and Learning provided educators from across the state, nation, and globe an opportunity to advance their pedagogical skills and learn IMSA’s signature strategy in our four competencies of Inquiry-Based, Problem-Centered, Competency-Driven, and Integrative Teaching and Learning through a series of micro-credentials. Educators who complete all four micro-credentials earn an IMSA Educator Micro-Certification, allowing them to teach IMSA professional development.  
• Student Inquiry and Research (SIR) is an integral part of the academic program that enabled students to work virtually with peers, prominent scholars, and world-renowned scientists to pursue their own compelling questions of interest, conduct research, or invent products. Students partnered with distinguished professionals at colleges and universities, research institutions, businesses, and museums.  
• The IMSA community published 907 pieces of scholarship in fiscal year 2021 reflecting the scholarly, innovative, and pedagogical culture of the Academy. The online repository of scholarship shares the intellectual output of IMSA and increases visibility and impact through worldwide access. This full-text, multimedia database links to open-access articles, conference proceedings, teacher resources, and image and audio files, as well as provides references to books and other creative works not fully accessible online. 
• The National Merit® Scholarship Program named 29 finalists from IMSA in its 2021 competition.
• In the workforce, over 7,000 IMSA alumni use their scientific minds to creatively solve global issues and advance the human condition. They are doctors leading breakthroughs in neurological disorders and cancer treatments; scientists at national laboratories; leaders in education at Harvard, MIT, the University of Illinois, and other prestigious universities; technology experts at Facebook, Google, BuzzFeed, and Microsoft; business leaders and engineers at the Boeing Company, McDonald’s Corporation, Motorola, the New York Stock Exchange, Nissan, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, and Shell Oil; investors in tech start-ups and social ventures; and entrepreneurs and co-founders of Netscape, PayPal, OkCupid, Yelp, and YouTube.  
• Members of the Academy’s faculty, staff, and founders are models of professional growth and achievement. They include presidential award winners, published authors, and a Nobel Laureate in physics. In fiscal year 2021, all faculty members held advanced degrees, with 57% holding doctorate degrees. 
• IMSA delivers statewide professional development programs to teachers and enrichment programs to students in grades K - 12 at the Aurora campus and throughout Illinois, integrating science, mathematics, and engineering with the use of technology. IMSA has one field office, located in the Metro East region in southwestern Illinois, which offers inquiry-based, hands-on programs to Illinois teachers and students. IMSA provided professional development to Illinois teachers in 157 schools representing 38 counties, 62 House districts, and 41 Senate districts, as well as 10,200 hours of unique STEM education experiences for non-IMSA students, with 40% of their time focused on underrepresented students.