Outreach

Northeastern University’s Bridge to Calculus (BtC) was founded by Professor Bob Case and Northeastern’s Mathematics Department in 1995. In conjunction with the Boston Public schools (BPS), BtC has worked to raise the mathematics achievement of so many students (especially under-represented minorities) that AP and non-AP Calculus courses have opened up in schools where there were none before. 

The core goal of BtC today is to give students a rigorous pre-calculus summer course, so they can take Advanced Placement Calculus in their senior year of high school. BtC addresses the current and enduring disparities in participation and achievement in AP Calculus in the BPS. Professor Donald King, a colleague of Professor Case, joined him in 2002 to help implement Bridge to Calculus. Currently BtC has representation from 19 different schools. Most of these schools are public. About 125 students participated in the 2015 summer program. The overwhelming majority of these students are Black or Hispanic, reflecting the composition of the Boston school system. 

The Summer 2017 edition of Bridge to Calculus ended on August 3, 2017. An article on the 2017 edition can be found here.  Another article about the 2019 program is here. Details about the Summer 2020 edition will appear in due course.

Undergraduate and graduate students interested in participating in the BtC activities as mentors should contact Professor Donald King.

For more information, please visit the Bridge to Calculus website at Northeastern University.