Programs

Boston Education Collaborative

Promoting a continuum of educational opportunity for urban students

While the tremendous barriers to urban youth in higher education are readily acknowledged, solutions to these challenges tend to be reactionary and compartmentalized. Research in the current educational needs of Boston’s youth underlines a clear need for a systemic response that interrelates the various parts – elementary, secondary, post-secondary – and leverages these connections for positive change.

The Boston Education Collaborative (BEC) is a grassroots urban alliance that strategically engages churches, schools, colleges, and other educators to motivate and support underserved urban youth to complete high school, pursue and complete post-secondary education, and return to serve in the city after graduation. Our mission is to empower underserved urban youth with the education they need for transformative lives. We approach the total system of education and create positive educational scenarios for the next generation in greater Boston. Our long-term goal is to Increase BEC’s partnerships to leverage resources to strengthen the entire system of educational development, thus empowering young people to be assets themselves and to build assets in their communities.

BEC began to address the lack of opportunities in post-secondary education for students of color through the creation of the Higher Education Resource Centers and College Success Initiative programs. We are continuing to build upon those successes by expanding our focus to the stages of educational development before and after high school, while fostering the ability of students at all stages to see the city as an asset to nurture, not flee.

BEC offers the following programs:

  • X-Factor helps improve academic performance for underrepresented students in math and science, and motivates and prepares students for advanced math and science coursework and careers. One of our goals is to build “swagger” – educational confidence – particularly for average to below-average performers, to lessen their chances of falling victim to destructive behaviors while clarifying their vision as a purpose-filled generation meant to impact the world.
  • Higher Education Resource Centers continue preparing students for college through test preparation, tutoring, academic counseling, mentoring, and career and financial aid advising. We are expanding the services to help students and families prepare themselves financially for college while proactively engaging with their communities now. By helping students overcome barriers to college success and discover how to engage with the city, we will impact the college drop-out rate for students of color. There are four HERCs in Boston’s South End and Dorchester, Lawrence, and Worcester. In 2005, 107 students were matched with mentors and 184 students completed HERC’s SAT prep classes. Boston HERC, housed at Congregación León de Judá, was named a 2005 and 2006 “Community Gem” by Citizens Bank and the City of Boston.
  • The College Success Initiative (CSI) helps urban students get through college and return to the city to serve. We are developing a support network for more than 200 high school graduates who have been through the HERC program. Our goals for CSI are to better support and advocate for students who are currently in college; to further understand how to increase the enrollment of urban students on college campuses and foster supportive environments for them, including at Christian colleges; and to create opportunities for them to reconnect to the city and reinvest their skills and talents. Through our New City Scholars Program (NCSP), we have a 95% retention rate for our first cohort of eight students who will complete their education at Gordon College in spring 2007, with a total of 35 urban students placed at Gordon and on track to graduate! Our long-term goal is to assist colleges to increase urban student enrollment and retention through continued adaptation and expansion of the New City Scholars Program.

Staff

  • , Director, Boston Education Collaborative
  • , Program Director, College Success Initiative
  • , Program Coordinator, Higher Education Resource Centers

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