The Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education
Progress Report - Integration of College and Career Readiness Recommendations
At the November 25 State Board meeting, staff of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (Department) and members of the Integration of College and Career Readiness (ICCR) Advisory Group will present an update on the ICCR Task Force recommendations. This memorandum provides background for the discussion.
Background
In November 2011, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (Board) asked then-Board member Gerald Chertavian to chair a task force to develop recommendations on integrating college and career readiness to help all students become better prepared for postsecondary education and economically viable career pathways. The resulting Integration of College and Career Readiness (ICCR) Task Force Report was accepted by the Board on June 26, 2012, and the Department was charged with developing a plan for moving the report recommendations forward. Since then, the Department has presented three progress updates to the Board. The most recent update was in December 2013.
Progress Update
I am pleased to report we continue to make steady progress. Gerald Chertavian chairs the ICCR Advisory Group, which has met twice so far in 2014 and is moving the recommendations forward through the work of three subcommittees: 1) Advocacy; 2) Communications; and 3) Employer Champions. Since December 2013, the Department has accomplished the following milestones:
Project Management
- Awarded FY15 Connecting Activities (CA) funds to 16 local workforce investment boards based on level funding of the appropriation in the state budget.
- Developed a comprehensive strategy to expand the CA network across the state.
- ICCR Demonstration Sites submitted their implementation plans for Year 2, designed to scale up key ICCR strategies.
- UMASS Donahue Institute delivered their ICCR Demonstration Site (Planning Year) Evaluation Report .
- Convened three state-level Early College Design leadership team meetings to move the early college career pathway policy and service delivery agenda forward.
- Massachusetts received $4.9 million through a U.S. Department of Labor Youth Career Connect grant to support early college career pathway work (Brockton, Marlborough and West Springfield).
Communication and Professional Development
- Launched the new Connecting Activities website to support increased communication and participation of local workforce investment boards, districts/schools, students and employers in the CA initiative.
- Developed a professional training video for employers on how to implement the Massachusetts Work-Based Learning Plan (embedded in new CA website).
- Launched the Future Ready website to help influential adults (mentors) message what it takes for students to be college and career ready.
- Published an Individual Learning Plan Guide, a voluntary tool for educators, parents and students to help guide students' planning for college and career success.
- Mapped out a comprehensive FY15 professional development strategy to include four regional statewide convening(s), ten webinars as well as initiative specific professional development and technical assistance to support districts/schools and their partners advance the ICCR work across the state.
- Sponsored a MA Model for Comprehensive School Counseling Summit in collaboration with the MA Association of School Counselors.
- Convened two statewide CA conferences and three CA Leadership sessions to gather input and provide professional development to help move the ICCR trajectories forward.
- Convened ICCR Demonstration Site grantees twice for strategic planning and peer sharing.
- Convened a Department-wide roundtable to update colleagues on ICCR progress.
Data Capacity
- Created a data collection methodology (Attachment 3) for capturing the depth of career development activities taking place in high schools across the Commonwealth.
- Developed Connecting Activities website to support the Massachusetts Career Readiness database with a "Join the High School Network" feature to recruit new high schools.
We are delighted that Gerald Chertavian and other members of the ICCR Advisory Group will join Associate Commissioner Pati Gregson and Keith Westrich, our Director of College and Career Readiness, at the November 25 meeting to discuss this initiative with the Board.
Attachments:
- ICCR Task Force Report and Recommendations
- ICCR Advisory Group Members
- Career Development Education High School Participation Categories