Young Peoples Project Inc

THE MISSION OF THE YOUNG PEOPLE'S PROJECT (YPP) IS TO USE MATH LITERACY WORK TO DEVELOP THE ABILITIES OF ELEMENTARY AND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TO SUCCEED IN SCHOOL AND LIFE. IN DOING SO, YPP INVOLVES THESE YOUNG PEOPLE IN EFFORTS TO ELIMINATE INSTITUTIONAL OBSTACLES TO THEIR SUCCESS. YPP ENVISIONS A DAY WHEN EVERY YOUNG PERSON-REGARDLESS OF ETHNICITY, GENDER, OR CLASS-HAS ACCESS TO A HIGH QUALITY EDUCATION AND THE SKILLS, ATTRIBUTES, AND COMMUNITY SUPPORT S/HE NEEDS TO SUCCESSFULLY MEET THE CHALLENGES OF THEIR GENERATION. FOUNDED IN 1996, BY AFRICAN AMERICAN YOUNG PEOPLE, YPP INHERITED ITS WORK FROM BOB MOSES AND THE ALGEBRA PROJECT (AP), WHICH IS ROOTED IN OVER 40 YEARS OF CIVIL RIGHTS WORK AND EDUCATION LEADERSHIP. AP ORGANIZED SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITIES AROUND THE GOAL THAT ALL CHILDREN HAVE ACCESS TO A HIGH QUALITY MATH EDUCATION AND PROVIDED PROFESSIONAL LEARNING FOR TEACHERS. YPP ORGANIZES YOUNG PEOPLE WHO ARE MOST AFFECTED BY UNFAIR OR WEAK MATH EDUCATION SYSTEMS, AND WORKS WITH SCHO

OVERVEIW: THE YOUNG PEOPLE'S PROJECT (YPP) WAS FOUNDED TO ADVANCE RACIAL EQUITY IN PUBLIC EDUCATION. WE ENVISION A DAY WHEN EVERY YOUNG PERSON- REGARDLESS OF ETHNICITY, GENDER, OR CLASS-HAS ACCESS TO A HIGH-QUALITY EDUCATION AND THE SKILLS, ATTRIBUTES, AND COMMUNITY SUPPORT TO MEET THE CHALLENGES OF THEIR GENERATION. SINCE 1996 WE HAVE WORKED WITH MORE THAN 12,000 COLLEGE, HIGH SCHOOL, AND MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS FROM UNDER-RESOURCED COMMUNITIES NATIONWIDE TO HELP THEM GAIN THE MATH LITERACY SKILLS THEY NEED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE GROWING STEM BASED ECONOMIES. WE USE MATH LITERACY WORK TO DEVELOP ELEMENTARY AND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS' ABILITIES TO SUCCEED AND ELIMINATE INSTITUTIONAL OBSTACLES TO THEIR SUCCESS. YPP IS A SOLUTION THAT YOUNG PEOPLE BUILD WITH EACH OTHER WITH THE SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE OF INVESTED ADULTS. IN THE VIEW OF YOUNG PEOPLE WHO FOUNDED YPP, THEIR WORK REFLECTED ONE POSSIBLE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION "WHAT AND HOW MUCH DO YOUNG PEOPLE HAVE TO DO TO HELP GET JIM CROW OUT OF EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES?" SINCE 1996, YPP HAS STEADILY EMPLOYED, TRAINED AND DEVELOPED YOUNG PEOPLE BETWEEN THE AGES OF 14-24 TO BE YOUTH NEAR-PEER MATH LITERACY WORKERS (MLWS) WHO LIVE IN COMMUNITIES THAT HAVE BEEN HISTORICALLY RELEGATED TO THE LOWEST STATUSES OF EDUCATIONAL EXPECTATION AND OPPORTUNITY. WE ARE FOUNDATIONALLY COMMITTED TO EMPOWERING HISTORICALLY MARGINALIZED AND EXCLUDED POPULATIONS OF ELEMENTARY THROUGH HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TO COLLABORATIVELY GROW THEIR ABILITIES TO SUCCEED IN SCHOOL AND LIFE. ESSENTIALLY YPP STRUCTURES HELP. WE BELIEVE THAT STUDENTS, PARTICULARLY BLACK, HISPANIC, AND LOWER INCOME STUDENTS, WHO ARE CURRENTLY SORTED TO THE BOTTOM OF OUR EDUCATION SYSTEM, SHOULD HAVE THE RIGHT AND CAN CLAIM RESPONSIBILITY AND DEMAND SUPPORT TO HELP EACH OTHER. OUR FOCUS IS ON MATH, THEREFORE IN YPP MATH LEARNING BECOMES AN ORGANIZING TOOL FOR YOUTH AGENCY AND EMPOWERMENT. YPP HAS A "STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES" FRAMEWORK FOR PROGRAM AND ORGANIZATION ALIGNMENT TO HELP US DETERMINE ANNUAL OR STRATEGIC GOALS, DESIGN COLLABORATIONS AND MAJOR PROJECTS, AND SUSTAIN YPP. THE FRAMEWORK ARISES FROM OUR EXPERIENCES AND PAST PLANNING EFFORTS. WE UPDATE THE FRAMEWORK PERIODICALLY TO COHERE OUR WORK OVER TIME AND ACROSS PROGRAMS AND GEOGRAPHICAL AREAS. THE FRAMEWORK HAS FOUR CORE OBJECTIVES: (1) BUILD YOUTH BELONGING, COMPETENCE, AND CAPABILITY, (2) DESIGN, PROVIDE, AND ORGANIZE QUALITY PROGRAMS AND LEARNING EXPERIENCES, (3) ENSURE A HEALTHY ORGANIZATION, (4) DEFINE CLEAR ENDGAMES. CORE PROGRAM ACTIVITIES: GREATER BOSTON (GB). OUR PLACE-BASED WORK IN GB SUPPORTS DEEPER LEARNING AND ENDURING PARTNERSHIPS, GENERATES PROGRAM ADAPTATIONS, AND SERVES AS AN INCUBATOR FOR EMERGING YPP LEADERSHIP. ON AVERAGE WE SERVE BETWEEN 30 AND 50 HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE MATH LITERACY WORKERS, AND 300+ K-12 PARTICIPANTS THROUGH FOUR CORE PROGRAMS ANNUALLY: OUR FLAGWAY LEAGUE, OUR SUMMER MATH AND COMPUTATIONAL THINKING LAB, OUR EXPLORING STEM LITERACY PROGRAM, AND A NEW "ALGEBRA 1 LABS" PROGRAM. IN 2021 TO 2022, 88% OF YPP PARTICIPANTS AT THE PUTNAM AVE UPPER SCHOOL (PAUS) HAD MCAS GROWTH PERCENTILE SCORES THAT WERE EQUAL TO OR BETTER THAN PEERS IN MASSACHUSETTS WITH A SIMILAR TEST SCORE HISTORY. 47% OF YPP STUDENTS HAD GROWTH PERCENTILE SCORES THAT WERE BETTER THAN PEERS IN MASSACHUSETTS. THE AVERAGE GROWTH SCORES FOR YPP STUDENTS COMPARED TO GROWTH SCORES FOR THE SCHOOL WERE 17 PERCENTILE POINTS HIGHER FOR MCAS AND 67% HIGHER FOR IREADY. 60% OF YPP PAUS PARTICIPANTS NOTED ON THE PROGRAM EVALUATION SURVEY THAT THERE IS AN MLW THAT THEY TRUST AND CAN HELP THEM WHEN THEY HAVE A PROBLEM. 70% REPORTED THAT THEY HAVE FUN AND LEARN NEW THINGS AT YPP. 90% REPORTED THAT THE MLWS CARE ABOUT WHAT THEY THINK. IN 2022-2023 LOW INCOME YPP 7TH GRADERS DID BETTER THAN THEIR PEERS ON ALL FIVE MATH DOMAINS OF THE MCAS (GEOMETRY, EXPRESSIONS AND EQUATIONS, RATIOS AND PROPORTIONAL RELATIONSHIPS, STATISTICS AND PROBABILITY, NUMBER SENSE) WITH DIFFERENCES RANGING FROM SIX TO TWENTY ONE PERCENTAGE POINTS BETTER. YPP STUDENTS' AVERAGE STUDENT GROWTH PERCENTILE WAS BETTER THAN NON-YPP STUDENTS' BY 14.3%. "AS SOON AS THE 7TH GRADERS GET INTO THE ROOM, THEY ALL GET RIGHT TO WORK. IT IS GREAT TO SEE THAT THE KIDS LOOK FORWARD TO THE NEXT MEETING. THE MIDDLE SCHOOLERS ARE CREATING BONDS WITH THE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS AND IT'S GREAT TO SEE THAT THEY ARE STILL ENGAGED IN HAVING STUDENTS CLOSER TO THEIR AGE TEACH THEM THE SKILLS." (EDUCATOR AT YPP PROGRAM) "BEFORE, SHE USED TO THINK SHE COULDN'T DO ANY MATH PROBLEMS, AND MATH WAS HER NIGHTMARE. AFTER SHE STARTED YPP SHE FELT MORE CONFIDENT, AND SHE LOVED IT EVEN HER THINKING, YOU COULD SEE HER THINKING LIKE A MATHEMATICIAN." (PARENT OF YPP MLW) "I LEFT LIKE I WAS REALLY SMART. BEFORE I DIDN'T HAVE A LOT OF CONFIDENCE. FROM FLAGWAY I LEARNED NOT TO BE AFRAID AND TO DO MY BEST." (YPP STUDENT) NATIONAL FLAGWAY LEAGUE AND TOURNAMENT. FLAGWAY, TAGGED AS "THE GATEWAY TO MATHEMATICS," SUPPORTS MULTIPLICATIVE UNDERSTANDING AND FLUENCY AND BUILDS NUMBER SENSE. FLAGWAY IS A HIGHLY DEVELOPED, TRAIL BLAZING VISION FOR WHAT ELEMENTARY MATH LEARNING CAN BE. OVER 150 PLAYERS FROM 4 STATES COMPETED IN OUR 7TH ANNUAL NATIONAL FLAGWAY TOURNAMENT IN MIAMI. OUR GOALS ARE TO IMPROVE THE TOURNAMENT EXPERIENCE, GROW THE LEAGUE, AND CONTINUE WORKING TO MAKE FLAGWAY A HIGH QUALITY PROGRAM. RESEARCH AND PROGRAM-BASED PARTNERSHIPS. WE WORK CLOSELY WITH THE ALGEBRA PROJECT, AND THE BOB MOSES RESEARCH CENTER AT FIU IN AN ONGOING WAY; AND WITH ETS, MATH TALK, AND THE BALTIMORE ALGEBRA PROJECT ON MULTI-YEAR NSF FUNDED RESEARCH PROJECTS. THESE PARTNERSHIPS HELP US TO ADVANCE OPPORTUNITIES TO CONDUCT RESEARCH ON YPP PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES, AND TO LEARN FROM THE FINDINGS TO IMPROVE PROGRAMMING AND CONTRIBUTE TO THE FIELD. MATH GAMIFICATION AND NEAR-PEER LEARNING. WE LOVE TO LEARN AND TEACH MATHEMATICS THROUGH GAMES AND NEAR-PEER LEARNING STRUCTURES. WE ENJOY DEVELOPING NEW GAMES AND ACTIVITIES AND HOPE TO HAVE A DEEPER IMPACT IN THIS SPACE OVER TIME. CURRENTLY WE ARE INTERESTED IN DEVELOPING GAMES LEARNING MODULES THAT HELP STUDENTS LEARN RATIOS AND PROPORTIONS AS WELL AS THE MATHEMATICAL CONCEPT OF FUNCTION. AT THE NATIONAL FLAGWAY TOURNAMENT WE PRODUCED A VERY SUCCESSFUL "MATH PLAYGROUND" TO SHOWCASE A VARIETY OF MATH GAMES DESIGNED BY YPP MATH LITERACY WORKERS AND STAFF, AND LED BY STUDENTS. WE ARE INTERESTED IN DEVELOPING A FRAMEWORK FOR MATH GAMIFICATION BASED ON OUR WORK. YPP IS COMMITTED TO ONGOING IMPROVEMENTS IN ORGANIZATIONAL SYSTEMS TO SUPPORT AND STREAMLINE OPERATIONS, ADMINISTRATIVE, FINANCIAL, AND DEVELOPMENT FUNCTIONS. OUR OBJECTIVES ARE TO: ADVANCE EFFECTIVE FISCAL MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES AND PRACTICES; ALIGN PERSONNEL CAPACITY AND TALENT WITH ORGANIZATIONAL GOALS AND STRATEGIES; VALUE STAFF IDEAS; ENABLE STAFF TO UNDERSTAND YPP OPERATIONS BY TAKING ON NEW/SUPPORTIVE ROLES.