College Board Partners PBLWorks for Pre-AP Courses in Middle Schools
News related to:PBLWorks · 2 min read
SAN RAFAEL, Calif., Nov. 12, 2026 /CourierPR/ -- In a significant move to enhance middle school education, the College Board has partnered with The Buck Institute for Education (dba PBLWorks) to launch Pre-AP courses in Grades 6-8 nationwide. This initiative recognizes project-based learning (PBL) as a critical pathway to advanced academic preparation, aiming to prepare students for the rigorous demands of AP courses in high school.
The partnership, which builds on the College Board’s long-standing commitment to college preparation, will see middle schools able to label their English Language Arts (ELA), math, science, and social studies courses as Pre-AP by incorporating two full projects into their existing curricula. This model is grounded in groundbreaking research by the Lucas Educational Foundation, which found that the incorporation of high-quality projects into the AP curriculum, designed by PBLWorks, had a statistically significant impact on AP exam results across all student groups.
PBLWorks, known for its Gold Standard PBL framework, will provide a suite of projects that are back-mapped from the content and skills students will experience in high school AP courses. This approach offers middle schools flexibility in choosing which projects best augment their current curricula, ensuring that students are well-prepared for the advanced coursework they will encounter in later grades. The collaboration recognizes the importance of PBL in building deep content mastery alongside critical thinking, collaboration, and problem-solving skills.
The agreement reflects growing interest in instructional approaches that help students connect challenging content to real-world projects. By requiring the implementation of Gold Standard PBL as the criterion for the Pre-AP course label, the partnership aims to create new opportunities for schools to deliver engaging, academically challenging learning experiences and expand those opportunities to a wider range of students.
The initiative will roll out in a phased approach, launching in 2026-27 with current TEACH middle schools. In 2027-28, the Pre-AP course designation will be available to any qualifying school worldwide. The partnership creates a scalable pathway for schools to implement project-based learning while earning national recognition for their commitment to college-preparatory instruction.
PBLWorks' TEACH tool, designed to help schools overcome common barriers to PBL implementation, will serve as the primary pathway for middle schools to apply the Pre-AP designation to their ELA, math, science, or social studies courses. The tool provides educators with ready-to-use project-based learning units, embedded professional learning, classroom resources, implementation support, and a community of PBL practitioners.
Through the agreement, PBLWorks reports participation and completion data from analytics available in TEACH to the College Board, eliminating separate steps for participating schools. Schools seeking Pre-AP course designations will be directed to TEACH as one pathway for implementation. Qualifying courses will be authorized to use the Pre-AP designation mark, and schools with Pre-AP designated courses will appear on the Pre-AP Course Ledger.
This partnership marks a significant step in the evolution of middle school education, aligning with the College Board's mission to expand opportunities for students to succeed in college and beyond.