MBRT to Extend
Commitment to Improved Student Achievement Through 2010
BALTIMORE, MD (9/3/02)
-- The Maryland Business Roundtable for Education (MBRT) plans to announce at its Annual
Meeting tomorrow that it will extend its decade-long commitment to improving student
achievement in Maryland at least until the year 2010.
The more than 100 leading Maryland
businesses that comprise MBRT originally made a 10-year commitment to support the
state’s educational reform efforts and improve student achievement. That commitment
would have ended this year.
"Clearly, our work is not
done," says MBRT Chairman Raymond A. "Chip" Mason. "Maryland stands at
a critical crossroads, and while much has been accomplished over the past decade, there
are still too many students graduating from our schools who are unprepared for the
challenges and opportunities that await them."
Mason notes that MBRT has
spearheaded a number of initiatives over the past 10 years that have significantly
improved the way in which teachers teach and students learn in Maryland. These efforts
have included: broadening technology access and use in the state’s public schools;
collecting and analyzing data to guide education strategies, policy, and funding; and
heightening awareness among students, teachers, and parents of the vital connection
between achievement in school and success in the workplace.
"Maryland’s business
community has played an integral role in creating the mindset that children can achieve at
high levels if they are taught at high levels, but we can’t declare victory
yet," Mason continues. "Though we have made important progress, our goal of
achievement of high standards has not been met."
As a result, MBRT has reaffirmed the
need for business to remain an active partner, working collaboratively with government
officials, educators, parents, community leaders, and students themselves in the effort to
assure that all children in Maryland receive a quality education.
"MBRT continually has aligned
its work with the programs and initiatives of the Maryland State Department of Education,
and that had a tremendously positive impact on our ability to establish and maintain
rigorous education standards in Maryland’s public schools," notes Maryland State
School Superintendent Dr. Nancy S. Grasmick.
"The business community
recognizes that improving schools is vital to its very existence," Mason asserts.
"Without a well-educated citizenry and a better prepared workforce, our productivity
and effectiveness in the world market will be seriously compromised. Business must
continue to be that consistent voice, demanding an education system that adequately
prepares all students for the challenges and opportunities they will face in life."
To that end, MBRT plans to continue
expanding its highly acclaimed "Achievement Counts" program in the coming
academic year. That program includes: a speakers bureau, which last year made more than
2,000 classroom presentations statewide encouraging students to take ownership of their
learning and their course in life; a new, highly interactive website designed to capture
the attention of teens; and "Parents Count" – a wide range of information
designed to assist parents in helping their children succeed in school.
"For the coming year, we are
recruiting more than 850 young workers – all of them messengers to whom the students
can relate – to make presentations to more than 65,000 ninth graders in 11 Maryland
counties and Baltimore City," says MBRT Executive Director June Streckfus.
"These dynamic, young workers are looking students in the eyes and challenging them
to focus on their futures."
To verify results and gauge the
long-term effectiveness of the speakers program, MBRT will pilot an evaluation process in
five schools to assess changes in student attitude, behavior, and academic performance.
According to Streckfus, MBRT is also
in the process of developing a new website that will introduce high school students to a
variety of career options. Utilizing a multi-media approach designed to appeal
specifically to a generation that has grown up on MTV, the site will allow teens to assess
their preparedness to enter specific careers, to understand the connection between what
they are learning in school and what will be expected of them in the workplace, and to
link to other career-oriented resources.
MBRT is also revamping its Parents
Count campaign. In addition to the parent-oriented messages that have appeared on the
Parents Count portion of MBRT’s website (www.mbrt.org/parents), the organization has
established a statewide distribution network that will allow the messages to be circulated
to parents at their workplaces and through schools, places of worship, and PTAs.
The Parents Count website has also
been redesigned to simplify navigation and to refine the core messages in order to more
easily engage parents who visit the site looking for effective strategies to help their
children succeed in school.
MBRT’s Achievement Counts
campaign has received a number of major local and national honors. It has been named a
national best practice by both the National Business Roundtable and the National Alliance
of Business. Locally, the program won an Innovator of the Year Award, sponsored by The
Daily Record. In the past year, it also was named a finalist for numerous public relations
awards, including the national Silver SABRE Award, the Thoth Award, the Silver Inkwell
Award, and the Public Relations Society of America’s Best in Maryland Award. The
Holmes Report, a public relations trade magazine, recently cited Achievement Counts as one
of the top 100 public relations programs in the nation over the past year.
"Through Achievement Counts and
its other programs, MBRT will continue to lead the charge for higher standards and
improved student achievement in Maryland, now and into the future," Mason concludes.
Media representatives are invited to
join MBRT, corporate executives, community leaders, and guests at the MBRT Annual Meeting.
The Annual Meeting will be held tomorrow – Wednesday, September 4, beginning at 9:30
a.m., at The Center Club, 100 Light Street, 12th Floor, in Downtown Baltimore.
For more information, contact Stanton Communications at 410-727-6855.
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Achievement Counts is made
possible this year through the generosity of the following funders: Allegheny Energy
AllFirst Financial Annie E. Casey Foundation Bank of America CitiFinancial Comcast
Constellation Energy First Union Bank Goldsmith Foundation KPMG Lockhart Vaughan
Foundation Lockheed Martin Maryland State Department of Education Morton & Sophia
Macht Foundation Provident Bank SunTrust Bank T.Rowe Price Verizon
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MBRT Annual
Meeting Will Feature President Bush's Senior Advisor on "NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND"
Act
BALTIMORE, MD (9/3/02)
-- Sandy Kress, President Bush's Senior Advisor in the development of the No Child Left
Behind Act of 2001, will deliver the keyote address when the Maryland Business Roundtable
for Education (MBRT) holds its 11th Annual Meeting on Wednesday, September 4, 9:30 a.m.,
at The Center Club, 15th Floor, 100 Light Street (Legg Mason Building) in Downtown
Baltimore.
Mr. Kress, who currently serves on
the Education Commission of the States and was previously President of the Board of
Trustees of Dallas Public Schools, will discuss the No Child Left Behind Act and its
implications for Maryland.
Maryland State Superintendent of
Schools Nancy S. Grasmick will respond to the President's sweeping education policy.
The Annual Meeting also will feature a discussion of MBRT's recent accomplishments
and future agenda, presented by MBRT Chair Raymond A. "Chip" Mason and MBRT
Executive Director June Streckfus.
Mr. Kress, a partner in the public
law and policy, and technology groups of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, L.L.P. in
Austin, Texas, has a long history in education. He has served on two statewide
committees to recommend improvements to public education in Texas, as well as Counsel to
the Governor's Business Council and Texans for Education. He has also been a member
of the Texas Business & Education Coalition and the Telecommunications Infrastructure
Fund Board, which will spend more than $1.5 billion over the next decade to bring
technology to Texas schools.
MBRT is a coalition of more than 100
Maryland businesses committed to supporting educational reform and improving student
achievement in the state.
Media representatives are invited to
join MBRT, member companies, and guests at the Annual Meeting. To RSVP or for
additional information, contact Stanton Communications at 410-727-6855.
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