MIT for America Calculus Project

This year in a rural school district in southeastern Montana, one high school student is taking calculus. For many people, calculus is daunting enough, even when teachers are used to offering it and peers are around to help. Studying it solo can be even harder. Yet this lone student has an unusual source of support: weekly tutoring directly from an MIT undergraduate, by Zoom, a long-distance but helpful way to stay on track.

It's part of a new program called the MIT4America Calculus Project, launched from the Institute last summer, in which MIT undergraduates and alumni work with school districts across the U.S., from Montana to Texas to New York, to tutor high school students. The logic is compelling: Students are highly proficient at calculus at MIT, where it is almost a requirement for admissions and success. The new civic-minded outreach program lets those MIT people share their knowledge and skills, getting high schoolers ready for further studies and even jobs, especially in STEM fields. 

The lack of calculus courses in U.S. high schools, particularly in lower-resourced regions, represents a significant educational disparity. According to the 2018 National Survey of Science and Mathematics Education, nearly half of high schools in the U.S. don’t offer AP calculus. Calculus is a mandatory course for most university STEM programs across the US, including MIT, and its absence effectively blocks these students’ access to higher education and career opportunities in STEM fields.

MIT4America’s mission is to expand access to calculus education in lower-resourced high schools across the United States by empowering educators and high school learners with scalable, cost-effective support. This will be accomplished by leveraging a combination of the passion and expertise of MIT students and alumni as mentors, MIT’s ability and experience to scale educational innovation, and the future integration of CalcTutor, a 24/7 learning support tool.  The program includes MIT-supported summer kickoff calculus intensives to get students and teachers ready for the year through MIT students on site, combined with academic year tutoring and mentoring from MIT students and alumni with integrated technology support. 

Our long term goal is to provide a year-round support system that transforms the teaching of calculus—making it more engaging, effective, and able to attract and retain a wide range of students. After a successful summer pilot in 2025, we will explain our summer offerings to include multiple sites. In partnership with our district and community based partners, we will create  a 3-week summer program taught by a local teacher that will provide a headstart for students in the fall.