Pathways to Opportunity: Career-Connected Learning for Boston's Young People

On September 25, the Boston Foundation, Boston Opportunity Agenda and EdVestors were honored to host the first in a series of discussions on postsecondary pathways for Boston students. But even before Pathways to Opportunity: Career-Connected Learning for Boston's Young People began, there were reasons to celebrate the significant progress.

Just before the forum kicked off, a small group gathered in one of the Boston Foundation’s conference rooms for a ceremony celebrating the signing of a new joint admission agreement between Bunker Hill Community College and the University of Massachusetts Boston  The agreement provides students with concurrent admission to both schools, clearing the way for seamless transfers of BHCC students to UMass Boston.

Immediately after, the forum began with a welcome from Lee Pelton, President and CEO of the Boston Foundation, who introduced Ted Lombardi, the Secondary Superintendent for Career College and Life Readiness for Boston Public Schools. Lombardi praised the progress made within BPS, noting, “We are graduating students not just with a diploma anymore but with the first, second, third, or more steps toward the next stage of their career.”

Lombardi was followed by Bunker Hill Community College President Pam Eddinger, who noted that the day’s joint admission signing and the forum came on the heels of the latest rankings from US News and World Report, which she decried as reinforcing a vertical system with the “Ivy-plus” schools at the top, and community and vocational colleges at the bottom.

“The joint agreement is my answer to the US News and World Report,” she said.” Our goal is to return the ideal of public higher education back to a public good. The goal is to blur the lines between segments of higher education.”

That means creating what she called a permeable system where students can rise through it without friction. Until that system is preeminent, “we will always have systemic barriers, racial injustice, and social equity gaps,” she said.

The panel adopted Dr. Eddinger’s vision of permeability throughout the Q&A session with TBF Associate Vice President of Programs Antoniya Marinova. Marsha Inniss-Mitchell, Executive Director of Post-Secondary Initiatives at BPS, highlighted the growth in pathways and the broad implementation of the district’s MyCAP program. The program gives students a vehicle for setting goals, selecting pathways, and creating post-secondary plans. Today, she said, 70 percent of BPS ninth-grade students use the MyCAP system, which gives them a platform and approach to explore their postsecondary options.

Joseph B. Berger, Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at UMass Boston, emphasized the power of choice for students, encouraging his colleagues on stage and in the audience to double down on what is known to be working rather than chase the next shiny object. Ensuring all students have those choices is vital, he added. At UMass Boston, he said, “We want to be a leading institution, not the leading institution, because we want everybody to join us in this work. We are not being inclusive if we are not providing excellence [for everyone].”