Innovation Career Pathway Information

In 2017, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts launched the High Quality College and Career Pathways (HQCCP) initiative, as an extension of the work completed in previous years by the Massachusetts Workforce Skills Cabinet.  This initiative accelerated efforts to develop career pathways for learners across the state.  The two main models identified by the Commonwealth to support career pathways, in addition to Career Technical Education (CTE) pathways, are 1) Early College (EC) and 2) Innovation Pathways (IP).

Innovation Career Pathways are structures within Massachusetts high schools that are designed to connect students to learning to a broadly-designed industry sector that is in demand in the regional and state economy.  Schools leverage strong partnerships with employers to provide students career awareness and work based learning activities.  Students participate in a series of courses and experiences relevant to achieving college credit and/or industry recognized credentials. Participation in this kind of pathway can lead students to opportunities for meaningful careers in that industry sector upon the completion of needed post-secondary education and training.

In 2020, impact data was released to determine the effectiveness of the implementation of Early College and Innovation Pathways.  The IP program impact data produced these key findings: 

• IP students were over two times more likely to graduate with completion of the Massachusetts Core Curriculum (a college readiness indicator) than comparison students.

• IP students had significantly higher attendance rates than comparison students (95 percent vs. 92 percent)

• IP students had 40 percent fewer disciplinary incidents than the comparison group.

There are currently 78 high schools in Massachusetts with Innovation Pathways offering over 183 pathways.