UA Little Rock Helps Prepare More Than 700 Advanced Placement Teachers

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock has helped train more than 700 Advanced Placement (AP) teachers during the annual AP Summer Institute.

The Jodie Mahony Center for Gifted Education offered three week-long sessions to help teachers deliver AP instruction in a variety of subjects. The summer institute offers professional development opportunities to middle and high school teachers from across the state to enhance their teaching skills for advanced placement courses.

“We just finished up our 29th year of offering the AP Summer Institute on campus,” said Lori Delk, program coordinator. “Over all three weeks, we instructed 704 teachers with 586 from Arkansas. The rest were from out of state, and we even had six international teachers attend the institute.”

UA Little Rock saw an increased demand for the summer institute this year. Attendance increased by 130 teachers this year, up from 574 teachers attending the summer institute in 2022.

“Our AP Summer Institutes connect us with an important constituency,” noted Dr. Ann Robinson, founding director of the Mahony Center. “We form lasting relationships with the high school teachers who are influential in sending their graduating seniors to the universities who welcome them. Whether we connect with teachers online around the world or on-campus here in Little Rock, our APSI staff serve as exemplary ambassadors for UA Little Rock. This is Lori Delk’s first year as our APSI program coordinator, and she led her team to new heights in 2023. ”

The subjects include English Literature, Calculus, World History, U.S. History, Government and Politics, English Language, Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Precalculus, Statistics, Art History, Comparative Government and Politics, Physics, Environmental Science, Computer Science Principles, Spanish, Music Theory, and Art and Design.

During the week, consultants serve as summer institute faculty, sharing best teaching practices for instructing high school students who are taking advanced placement courses. The training includes 30 hours of instruction, and participating teachers receive professional development credit for their work.

Lisa Cumming, a retired chemistry teacher from Cleveland, Ohio, served as the consultant for AP Chemistry. She was joined by her husband, Bill Cumming, who is also an AP chemistry teacher and AP summer institute consultant. The couple often travel together when one is hired as a consultant, so the subsequent AP summer institute gets the experience of two chemistry consultants for the price of one.

“I’ve been involved in the AP program for 30 years,” Lisa Cumming said. “I’ve edited several AP books, and I’ve done some curriculum writing for the College Board. This is the fifth AP Summer Institute I’ve done this summer, but I’ve been helping Bill with his for 15 years. I have found the teachers in Arkansas to be incredibly hard working, eager to learn, and very welcoming.”

The Cummings are serving as consultants for a total of 10 summer institutes this year and have been traveling to Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan, Massachusetts, Maryland, Virginia, Wisconsin, and North Dakota.

“What’s really fun is that you meet lots of teachers who want to better their craft,” said Bill Cumming, who taught his first AP class in 1982. “AP classes develop the thinking skills students need in life to go to college, trade school, and into the workforce.”

John Kreun, a chemistry teacher from Russellville High School, attended the summer institute for the first time this year.

“I took the AP Summer Institute to become a more effective teacher and to better prepare myself to help the kids be the best they can be,” Kreun said. “In order for the kids to be the best they can be, I need to be the best I can be.”

Kreun is especially grateful for the advice as this will be his first year as a teacher as well as his first year as an AP teacher.

“I am a physician’s assistant, but I left medicine and followed my heart to become a teacher,” Kreun said. “I am excited and super pumped. I really want to further their education. Lisa and Bill have been amazing and really knowledgeable and a great resource.”

In the AP Art and Design class in the Windgate Center of Art and Design, consultant Trish Winnard from Oklahoma City taught teachers how students should complete their art portfolios.

“Teaching advanced placement courses is important because there is nothing in the art curriculum that impacts studio lives more than AP studio art and design,” Winnard said. “I should know because I’ve been doing it for 50 years. These participants have been lovely, good people. They are not art teachers. They are trained artists who teach art.”

Cedric Granger, a native of West Memphis, Arkansas, attended the summer institute to prepare for teaching his first AP class at Southwind High School in Memphis, Tennessee.

“The main thing I want to learn is how to be organized for the kids and learning more about the AP program because I’ve never taught the AP course before,” Granger said. “If kids are serious about art, then AP classes will help them get college credit and help them explain their true creative side.”

The AP Summer Institute is supported by a grant from the Arkansas Department of Education. The grant enables UA Little Rock to provide Arkansas public school teachers who teach AP with funding to cover the cost of registration.