Making It Happen: How Career Academies Can Build College and Career Exploration Programs

With a grant from the Institute of Education Sciences in the U.S. Department of Education, MDRC and its project partner Bloom Associates piloted a program to help academies build college and career exploration programs. If the program is fully implemented, by the time students graduate from a career academy, they will have received up to 44 lessons, participated in at least two visits to work sites and two to college campuses, and completed a six-week compensated internship. This report summarizes findings from a three-year study of 18 academies in three states — California, Florida, and Georgia — that implemented the program from 2009 through 2012.