A few days ago, high school students across Mississippi completed their Advanced Placement courses by taking rigorous AP exams. A decade ago, before Global Teaching Project launched its Advanced STEM Access Program, AP exams were a non-event in most of Mississippi, outside a very few, relatively comfortable enclaves.   A 2014 College Board study reported that Mississippi had, by a clear margin, the lowest AP participation and performance levels in the country. AP courses prepare students for college rigor, enhance admission prospects, and can reduce tuition costs by enabling students to earn college credit prior to enrollment.  Yet a Congressional …

Students of all backgrounds have the aptitude and work ethic needed to excel if provided a quality education, write former Governor Barbour and former Congressman Espy.

A recent study by College Board, which created and administers the Advanced Placement (AP®) program, shows that the Global Teaching Project has been key to dramatically expanding opportunities for promising high school students from underserved Mississippi school districts to take AP classes over the past decade. AP classes significantly help promising students achieve their full potential, and prepare them for college rigor.  The Equity and Excellence Commission, an advisory committee chartered by Congress, concluded that disparities in AP access “aggravate the achievement gaps” and “impair our ability as a nation to raise student achievement.” The College Board study analyzed the …

Professor Lisa Urry, Northeastern University Biologist and one of the world’s leading Science educators, has launched a program to help Global Teaching Project students develop the study skills needed to succeed in advanced STEM courses.  The program’s initial session, “Metacognition: The Key to Doing Well in Challenging Courses”, was conducted recently, with classes participating virtually from around Mississippi. Professor Urry is lead author of a series of Biology textbooks used in close to 90 percent of AP Biology classes, and 60 percent of introductory college Biology courses.  She also has written and spoken widely on effective Science education practices. Professor Urry works closely with GTP and its students to hone …

The Global Teaching Project provides promising students in rural, high-poverty Mississippi communities access to advanced STEM classes their schools otherwise may not offer.  Last year, GTP worked with hundreds of students in 39 schools to offer four classes—AP Biology, AP Computer Science Principles, AP Physics 1, and AP Statistics. Each of those schools have success stories that emphatically affirm GTP’s premise—every community has bright students with the aptitude and work ethic needed to excel academically, if provided the opportunity and strong support. John Knighten and Angel Lewis, seniors at Madison S. Palmer High School in Marks, recently achieved two of …

Teachers and administrators from 19 schools in 16 school districts came to Delta State University in Cleveland, MS in mid-August to prepare for classes in AP Biology, AP Computer Science Principles, AP Physics 1, and AP Statistics to be offered through the Global Teaching Project in the 2024-2025 academic year. A total of 47 educators participated in the DSU Professional Development program, at which AP-certified Supervisory Instructors led sessions to deepen teachers’ understanding of course content, explore effective teaching strategies for advanced STEM subjects, and collaborate in small-group activities designed to foster their growth as educators. GTP’s blended instructional model …

Each August, teams of Global Teaching Project Teaching Assistants–current STEM majors at, and recent graduates of, leading universities around the country–visit schools throughout rural Mississippi to work in-person with students and teachers to help GTP’s Advanced Placement STEM courses get off to a strong start. The August visits are a key component of a sequence of instructional initiatives throughout the year that help GTP students succeed in rigorous AP science classes. GTP’s students are selected by their schools based on their aptitude and work ethic, but they often have significant gaps in their substantive foundations.  GTP works to help students …

Oso, a Texas native, graduated from Yale in 2023 with a degree in Biomedical Engineering. While at Yale, Oso excelled in the classroom, in the arts, and on the football field.  Oso has earned acclaim for his art, and also was a standout defensive end, earning recognition as one of the nation’s top scholar-athletes.  Oso was among just 15 finalists for the William V. Campbell Trophy, the “academic Heisman” presented by National Football Foundation to college football’s premier scholar-athlete, for which Oso was awarded a postgraduate scholarship. Oso first began work with GTP in 2019 while still a Yale undergraduate, …

The Global Teaching Project’s Advanced STEM Summer Preparatory Program, now in its eighth year, provides immersive instruction in a residential, university-based setting to help promising high school students get ready for the rigor of the Advanced Placement science courses they will take through GTP in the upcoming school year. The Summer Program is provided free of charge to students, and uses no state or local funds. This year’s Summer Program, once again held at Mississippi State’s main Starkville campus, was a major success, drawing approximately 100 students from across the state to study AP Biology, AP Computer Science Principles, AP …