The Massachusetts Institute for College and Career Readiness (MICCR) builds the capacity of school communities to design, implement, and evaluate college and career readiness strategies that prepare students for success after graduation. Through this work, MICCR addresses several key challenges:
MICCR supports 15 high needs communities, known as Gateway Cities, throughout Massachusetts. Many of these communities were historical leaders in industry, but have witnessed economic downturns due to a lack of college-educated workers prepared to compete in the new knowledge-based economy. Launched with a three-year grant from the Institute of Education Sciences, MICCR has formed working groups of school and district leaders and university faculty members to help equip students with the skills necessary to meet the demands of the 21st century labor market. Districts are focused on a range of topics including individualized learning plans, academic remediation, early warning indicator systems, workforce readiness, and whole-school turnaround.
MICCR is a collaborative effort between the Rennie Center, Boston University, and the MassINC Gateways Cities Innovation Institute. The initiative draws on the Rennie Center’s expertise in collaboration and research in applied settings. As the program manager of the initiative, the Rennie Center provides direct assistance to districts and manages the network of learning communities. The Rennie Center has also taken a lead in investigating individualized learning plans, a flagship initiative for MICCR, and authored studies featuring participating communities. Please visit the MICCR website for more information.