About Us

Welcome to the website for the Innovation Career Pathways Community of Practice! The Center for Collaborative Education, in partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, provides professional learning and technical assistance for Innovation Career Pathways applicants and designees. This website is full of resources to assist you, whether you are just exploring the idea of pathways, or preparing to apply for designation, or already designated and involved in implementation and improvement of your pathway programs.

This About Us page provides introductory information about the MA DESE Innovation Career Pathways initiative and our Community of Practice.

High school students sitting in classrooom collaborating

Brief History and Goals of Innovation Career Pathways

Launched in 2017, Massachusetts Innovation Career Pathways (MAICP) are designed to provide students with coursework and work-based learning experiences in broadly-defined, in-demand industry sectors in our regional and state economy. The current sectors are: Advanced Manufacturing, Business/Finance, Clean Energy, Environmental/Life Sciences, Healthcare/Social Assistance, and Information. At present there are over 200 pathways designated in almost 100 schools across the state, with more applications and designations every year! Innovation Pathways are intended to help students gain awareness of future career opportunities, fully prepare them academically for post-secondary success, and help support informed decision-making related to their post-graduation education and employment choices.

Guiding Principles for Innovation Career Pathways

These five Guiding Principles were identified in 2016 to provide context and direction for Massachusetts’ High Quality College and Career Pathways (HQCCP) initiative.

Designated pathway programs should prioritize students underrepresented in higher education enrollment and in high skill/high demand industries, and eliminate barriers to student access, participation and completion. The aim of this principle is to keep entry into ICP pathways as open as possible, particularly with regard to prior academic performance. ICP programs are to be designed and funded such that they are offered free for all student participants—including tuition, fees, and other related expenses.

Designated programs should be structured around academic pathways from secondary to post-secondary education and must include a scope and sequence with a minimum of four courses (yearlong courses or their equivalent).  The course sequence must include a minimum of two technical courses related to the pathway’s industry sector, and a minimum of two advanced/college-level courses that provide the student an opportunity to gain dual-enrollment or AP/IB college credit. The technical courses may NOT overlap with the college-level courses; there must be a four-course sequence. Students also must complete MassCore requirements by graduation.

Designated programs should identify potential academic and nonacademic challenges for a diverse population of student participants, especially those with high needs. Programs should incorporate wraparound services to promote success; and plans and appropriate contacts for support for academic, nonacademic, and career purposes — including but not limited to counseling/advising and tutoring, both at the high school and college levels.

Designated programs should expose students to targeted opportunities intended to lead to careers. This targeted exposure can come in the form of opportunities for workforce and career skills development, career counseling, and work-based learning. All students must have a MyCAP (MyCareer and Academic Plan) managed on an online platform and a 100-hour internship or capstone project taken later in high school.

Pathways must be based in a formal partnership between a school or district and its local workforce development board (MassHire), along with one or more employers in the industry sector. Though these are common elements for every program, every Innovation Career Pathways program has different elements based on their context, connections, and local community assets that make each program unique, effective, and sustainable.

group working on laptops at collaborative table

Industry Sectors for Innovation Career Pathways

Industry sectors are broad groups of businesses or organizations with similar activities, products, or services. What follows here are descriptions of the six priority industry sectors identified by DESE as of May 2023 for schools developing Innovation Career Pathways. More information on industry sectors and occupations aligned to projected industry growth and job openings can be found on O*Net OnLine. 

The Advanced Manufacturing sector comprises businesses engaged in the mechanical, physical, or chemical transformation of materials, substances, or components into new products. Businesses in the Manufacturing sector are often described as plants, factories, or mills and characteristically use power-driven machines and materials-handling equipment in their production processes.

The Business and Finance sector comprises establishments primarily engaged in financial transactions (transactions involving the creation, liquidation, or change in ownership of financial assets) and/or in facilitating financial transactions. Three main types of activities in the sector are: raising funds by taking deposits and/or issuing securities; pooling of risk by underwriting insurance and annuities; and providing specialized services facilitating or supporting financial intermediation, insurance, and employee benefit programs.

Clean energy jobs frequently fall under various names, including “green jobs” or “climate-critical jobs,” but a clean energy worker is anyone who spends some or all their time working in renewable energy, energy efficiency, alternative transportation, or other efforts that reduce or eliminate greenhouse gas emissions. Clean energy workers make our homes and offices more efficient and comfortable; they provide us with alternative clean transportation, and they build the infrastructure to power our daily activities with increased reliability and resilience.

The Environmental Science sector analyzes, develops, and provides solutions to environmental challenges, including alternative energy systems, pollution control, sustainably and natural resources. The Life Sciences sector comprises establishments that specialize in research and development, commercialization, and manufacturing activities in the fields of biopharma, medical devices, diagnostics, and digital health.

The Health Care and Social Assistance sector comprises organizations providing health care and social assistance for individuals. The sector includes both health care and social assistance because it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between the boundaries of these two activities. The services provided by organizations in this sector are delivered by trained and licensed professionals, namely, health practitioners or social workers.

The main components of the Information sector are the publishing industries, including traditional print and internet publishing; the motion picture and sound recording industries; the broadcasting industries, including traditional broadcasting and those broadcasting over the internet; telecommunications industries; data processing industries; and information services industries.

The Innovation Career Pathways Team at DESE

Innovation Career Pathways is part of the Office for College, Career, and Technical Education (CCTE) at the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and is led by Innovation Career Pathways Lead Jennifer Gwatkin. Feel free to contact Jennifer for questions regarding DESE-provided support for application, designation, implementation, and DESE grant funding opportunities. The Innovation Career Pathways page on the DESE website houses key documents related to applying for pathway designation, including the application timeline for the upcoming year. 

Planning and implementation grant information is posted, when available, on the DESE Grant Funding Opportunities page. 

The Innovation Career Pathways Team at CCE

The Center for Collaborative Education (CCE) is a national, impact-driven education non-profit that partners with schools, districts, state agencies and communities to increase educational equity so students and communities thrive. CCE has partnered with DESE to provide technical assistance for Innovation Pathways since 2019. At CCE, the MAICP team includes Executive Director Oscar Santos, Director of Programs Annie Leonard, and Systems Director Allison Plesz. You can contact Annie with questions about any of the CCE-provided events or resources mentioned on the MAICP website. 

CCTE Liaisons to Schools with Pathways

Please contact your DESE CCTE Liaison for questions regarding DESE-provided support for application, designation, implementation, and DESE grant funding opportunities. You can find liaison information here.

massachusetts department of elementary adn secondary education logo
center for collaborative education logo

Quicklinks

Resources

About

Sitemap | Accessibility Statement
© 2024 Massachusetts Innovation Career Pathways. All rights reserved. Web Design by Tomo360