Family & Community Students & Families Student and Secondary Support
College and Career Readiness

Summary of the Massachusetts National Governors Association Grant Activities

Massachusetts is one of 10 states selected to receive a National Governors Association grant of approximately $1 million per year over the next two years. The purpose of the grant is to increase high school graduation and college and work readiness rates. Massachusetts' grant includes three key prongs:

1. strengthen the value of the high school diploma for all students;
2. close the achievement gap; and
3. develop an effective K-16 approach and use data to hold ourselves accountable.

Strengthen the Value of the High School Diploma

• Align our high school standards with what is expected of students in their freshman year of college.

• Create a recommended "Curriculum for College and Work Readiness" that defines the courses all high school students should take.

• Develop an Algebra II assessment. The optional assessment would be designed to provide diagnostic information to students about their readiness for college-level math courses.

• Redesign and restore the state's dual enrollment program, with a particular focus on math and science.

• Increase the number of students, especially minorities, who enroll in AP courses and perform well on AP, PSAT and SAT exams.

Close the Achievement Gap

• Host a conference of potential turnaround partners with an emphasis on the need for reform in low performing middle and high schools.

• Create a career and education planning communications strategy, including a website and informational materials for students and their parents. The website will assist all students in education and career planning, provide information on financing a college education, and define what students need to learn and be able to do to succeed after high school.

• Host a series of discussion forums in low performing districts to engage parents, families and high school students in the conversation of how to improve the state's secondary schools.

• Partner with the business community to launch a targeted campaign in the neediest communities to inform students and their parents about the level of knowledge and skills needed to succeed in college and the workplace.

Develop an Effective K-16 Educational Approach and Use Data to Hold Ourselves Accountable

The third step in our plan for high school reform is to develop an effective K-16 educational system and build a data management infrastructure that will allow us to track the performance of students from kindergarten through their senior year of college.

For more information about this initiative, contact