A new report by the Voices for Academic Equity Coalition, of which Mass Insight is a founding member, unpacks the status of the state’s MassCore curriculum, a recommended opt-in course of study for the state’s high school students. Massachusetts currently has just...
Is Great Teaching and Project-Based Learning the Recipe for Boosting AP Success?
As Mass Insight honors some of Massachusetts’ best STEM & English Advanced Placement (AP) teachers this month, new research is spotlighting the benefits of Project-Based Learning (PBL) for AP students.
In a randomized control trial, research scientists at the Center for Economic and Social Research at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, found that high school students – taught AP US Government and AP Environmental Science with a PBL approach – outperformed peers on exams by 8 percentage points in the first year.
In year two, PBL students outperformed peers by 10 percentage points. These students were also more likely to earn a passing score of 3 or above with the chance to receive college credit.
The AP Environmental Science students in the controlled trial explored sustainability by conducting a personal environmental impact audit and were tasked with developing a proposal to reduce consumption.
For the US Government course trial, students conducted a mock presidential campaign, and assumed the roles of candidates, lobbyists, and media.
Clearly, learning by doing has a meaningful impact on improving learning. Good AP teachers know this instinctively. They create classrooms where students learn college-level content and participate in hands-on projects to develop skills for college and work. Now, through the USC research, we have the evidence to back up this practice.
Great AP teachers, like those that Mass Insight is honoring, know that by leveraging Project-Based Learning in their courses they are helping more students become eligible to earn college-credit while in high school.
Recent Posts
The Boston Globe: Step up for Providence schools, former superintendent asks every Rhode Islander
In this op-ed for Globe Rhode Island, Mass Insight's Susan Lusi writes that education in Providence is in crisis and asks Rhode Islanders to support a special commission’s recommendations to move the city's schools forward. Read the full op-ed from The Boston Globe...
An Interview with Mass Insight AP Students and their Teacher
https://youtu.be/mQTeW8-sX40 We sat down with two Mass Insight AP STEM & English Program students, Ben and Chris-Ander, and their teacher, William Pellegrino, to hear about their educational journeys, their experiences in AP classes and as vocational students, and...
You may also like
An Interview with Mass Insight AP Students and their Teacher
https://youtu.be/mQTeW8-sX40 We sat down with two Mass Insight AP STEM & English Program students, Ben and Chris-Ander, and their teacher, William Pellegrino, to hear about their educational journeys, their experiences in AP classes and as vocational students, and...
An Interview with Kristen Hengtgen of The Education Trust
https://youtu.be/1ZfxNShHJOU?si=d1a1GoVrgrDWT5Cu Kristen Hengtgen, Ph.D. is a senior analyst on The Education Trust's P-12 policy team and co-author of their new report, Increasing Access to Advanced Coursework in Massachusetts. In this interview, she joins Mass...
Creating the conditions for greater success of systemically disadvantaged students in AP: Next steps for the Massachusetts AP STEM & English program
Recently the New York Times published an article entitled, Why is the College Board Pushing to Expand Advanced Placement? The article focuses on an important issue: there’s been greater growth in AP participation for Black and Latino students and students living in...