The Need
Despite the benefits of economic advancement, professional creativity and career growth, students from local urban communities are not being prepared to enter the technical professions. In collaboration with families, schools, community organizations and MIT, SEED Academy provides participants with critical academic support and opportunities for engineering career exploration to support their high achievement, from high school to college to the workplace.
The "achievement gap" between urban students and their suburban counterparts is significant at the high school level. According to the Massachusetts Department of Education 2004 MCAS results, the 8th grade mathematics failure rate among Boston students was more than four times that of test takers in the nearby suburban community of Brookline, and more than six times that of students in Newton.
This marginal math performance-assuming these results accurately represents true ability-leads to a larger question. Who will fill the rising demand for skilled technical workers that the local high-tech revolution specifically, and global economy overall will certainly need? In the shorter term, what will be the regional impact of having thousands of young people cut off from the economic mainstream because they lack foundational math and science skills, or worse still, high school diplomas?
SEED Academy hopes to stem the tide among its participants, helping them to increase their academic performance and develop the critical skills required to excel in an increasingly competitive technological society.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology