Classroom at the Workplace: MCAS
Increasingly, PIC employers are making learning a part of the jobs they provide for high school students, Through the "Classroom at the Workplace: MCAS Prep" program, students spend 90 minutes of every work day during the summer in a class at the workplace, improving their literacy or math skills.
In Massachusetts, students must pass high-stakes tests in English/language arts and math, called MCAS, to graduate from high school with a diploma. In Boston, hundreds of 11th and 12th graders still must pass, facing the dim prospects of life without a diploma. Many of these students are recent immigrants, and some just need more preparation to get over the hurdle.
You can help by hiring a student and providing time and space for him or her to attend class. The PIC takes care of the rest -- recruiting and preparing the students, hiring the teacher, and supplying the curriculum materials.
Classroom at the Workplace: MCAS Prep works because it combines employment and education. Through this program, students do not have to choose between working and improving their academic skils. They see the explicit connection between school and career. Since the inception of Classroom at the Workplace in 1999, over 70% of student participants have passed the MCAS and earned their high school diploma. Another 20% of students have passed either the math or ELA test. In all, over 90% of student participants felt more prepared to take the MCAS after completing the program.
To sign up, or for more information, please contact Elspeth Benard at elspeth.benard@bostonpic.org or 617-488-1335.
