Tom Peters Executive Director South Carolina's Coalition for Science and Mathematics tpeters@clemson.edu

As the Executive Director of South Carolina's Coalition for Mathematics and Science (SCCMS), Tom continues a tradition of facilitating improvement in science and mathematics instruction begun in 1994 with the establishment of the National Science Foundation funded, South Carolina Statewide Systemic Initiative. SCCMS is an action and advocacy group that partners with business/industry, government and informal education centers to impact instructional improvement in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education. SCCMS was founded by BMW Manufacturing Co., DuPont, Michelin North America, and Progress Energy. SCCMS is a member of the National Alliance of State Science and Mathematics Coalitions and the Triangle Coalition.

Tom also coordinates activities of the Anderson Oconee Pickens-Greenville Mathematics and Science Regional Center (AOP-G MSRC). The AOP-G MSRC is one of eight regional support centers for math and science educators in South Carolina. As part of the SC Department of Education's Mathematics & Science Unit, these centers specialize in preparing school-based science and math coaches to lead in improving classroom instruction in grades K-5.

The Mathematics & Science Unit is a key partner in SCCMS efforts to improve classroom instruction and student learning. These organizations work together to prepare and support middle school science and math coaches through the iCoaching initiative established in the spring of 2006.

Tom has served the Association of Science Materials Centers in various leadership capacities for over a dozen years. Currently he manages the Office of Membership Services and coordinates the organization's Next Step Institute.

Prior to coming to South Carolina, Tom's professional career was centered in Illinois and then Texas. In Illinois, Tom was a science and mathematics teacher at Waubonsie Valley High School. In Texas, as the science specialist for the Wichita Falls Independent School District, he helped establish one of the state's first science materials resource centers. Tom holds four degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign including an Ed.D. in Science Education.