Baylor TIP Grows in First Year
Spring 2024
LEFT: In 2023, more than 100 TIP students benefited from experiential learning in courses including engineering and human intelligence. Students in the entrepreneurship class (pictured above) developed and pitched a business plan.
RIGHT: Shyanne Howard and her parents at the Baylor TIP Spring induction ceremony.
Starting in 2021, the School of Education’s Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development launched an ambitious plan designed to identify and serve academically advanced K12 students, focusing on students in grades 4-12 through a new Talent Identification Program — Baylor TIP.
Baylor TIP provides life-changing opportunities to talented adolescents by providing them with high-quality instruction in advanced content within a caring community in which they can explore and transform. While other programs serve students in different regions of the U.S., Baylor TIP is the only such program at a Christian research university, and that distinction has led to specific advantages for students.
The Christian perspective informs Baylor TIP’s approach to both admissions and programming.
“We are actively seeking ways to identify students who, for a variety of reasons, do not have access to educational resources needed to help them fully develop the gifts and talents that God gave them,” said Dr. Cheryl Taliaferro, director of pre-collegiate programs for Baylor TIP. “Additionally, the integration of faith and learning at Baylor TIP emphasizes the ethical dimensions of academic pursuits. Students are encouraged to consider the ethical implication of their studies and how their faith informs ethical decision making.”
BAYLOR TIP BY THE NUMBERS
- 2023 - 321 students
- 2024 - 984 students & 26 Project Promise Scholars
Baylor TIP Partner Schools & Districts
- 2023 - 7 schools (3 in DFW area)
- 2024 - 26 private schools & 31 school districts (21 in DFW)
Number of summer TIP course offerings
- 2023 - 4 commuter classes
- 2024 - 30, including a residential program for grades 8-12
Baylor TIP is an updated version of the classic talent search model, which encompasses above-level testing, selective admission, and advanced academic opportunities. In addition to measuring academic achievement, Baylor TIP assesses students’ academic motivation. Baylor researchers hypothesize that this combination will identify students who could benefit the most from TIP programming, and they are developing measurements to confirm that.
Baylor TIP broadens its reach through Project Promise, a scholarship program for students in grades 8-12 who both qualify for Baylor TIP and have verified economic need. Project Promise was launched 25 years ago as a scholarship program of Baylor’s University for Young People (UYP). Research at Baylor has demonstrated that economic need is not a barrier to achievement when there are supports and enrichments in place through programs such as Project Promise.
Assessments for admission to Baylor TIP began in 2022, and updated summer coursework launched in 2023 with much more on the way. The Center also continues to offer UYP for grades 1-3 as a summer day camp on the Baylor campus.
BAYLOR TIP OFFERINGS:
- Summer Programs (commuter and residential)
- Super Saturdays
- Talent Development Advising
- Clubs & Societies
- Online Courses (coming fall 2024)
- Academic Competitions (coming fall 2024)
- Baylor TIP Abroad (TBD)