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September
9, 2004
MBRT
Expands Achievement Counts Program In Response To State’s
High School Requirements
BALTIMORE,
MD --- To support the state's efforts to strengthen high school
graduation requirements in 2009, the Maryland Business Roundtable
for Education (MBRT) announced plans today to intensify its nationally
recognized Achievement Counts campaign,
expanding its speakers program to reach more than 75,000 middle
and high school students this fall, while launching a teen website
to help students explore careers and better understand what it takes
to get a good job.
"Achievement Counts represents a comprehensive response by Maryland's
business community to ensure that high school graduates are prepared
to succeed in college, in the workplace, and in life," MBRT Executive
Director June Streckfus told an audience of 300 area business executives,
educators, and elected officials, including Maryland Lt. Governor
Michael Steele, during MBRT's Annual Meeting, held today in Baltimore.
"If Maryland's youth are to have a future with promise, the state's
business community must play a significant role in improving student
achievement in the state," Streckfus continued. "Motivation remains
a key element in helping students to meet high school standards,
yet far too many students remain disengaged from school, apathetic
about learning, unrealistic about expectations, and overly optimistic
about their chances to succeed in life without a good education."
To show students the connection between achievement in school and
success in college and the workplace, MBRT initiated Achievement
Counts five years ago. What began as a modest speakers bureau -
80 business people volunteering to talk with Baltimore County 9th
graders about the importance of high school - has now grown to become
a comprehensive statewide campaign that includes Web-based components
aimed at both teens and their parents, and more than 1,500 volunteers
speaking to students in 15 of Maryland's 24 jurisdictions.
"The Achievement Counts message is simple: the more you achieve
in school, the more opportunity you will have when you graduate,"
explains Streckfus. "But it is a message to which young people can
easily relate and it has created a groundswell of action that has
not only exceeded our most optimistic expectations, but has also
astounded our counterparts in other states."
At its Annual Meeting, MBRT announced that it had secured a matching
grant from the Weinberg Foundation which allowed it to expand the
Achievement Counts speakers bureau (www.mbrt.org/speak)
by more than 300 new speakers, who will talk with students in 150
high schools and 67 middle schools this fall. Over 300 Maryland
businesses - including Verizon, Johns Hopkins, and T. Rowe Price,
which together account for some 200 speakers - are now participating
in the MBRT speakers bureau.
The second component of Achievement Counts, Maryland Scholars (www.mbrt.org/scholars),
also is slotted for expansion, adding five new counties and selected
Baltimore City middle schools to the two counties (Harford and Frederick)
that piloted the initiative last year. MBRT expects the program
to reach more than 18,000 8th graders and 57,000 9th graders in
the coming months.
"Maryland Scholars is similar to the speakers bureau in that it
uses business volunteers to deliver compelling information to students,"
notes Streckfus. "Scholars, however, sends a message to eighth and
ninth grade students that choices matter, and those who choose to
take, and complete, rigorous coursework in high school will have
broader opportunities."
Achievement Counts also makes use of the Internet. Its improved
Parents Count component, launched last week, utilizes a website
(www.mbrt.org/parents)
to arm parents with practical, easy-to-use, and readily available
strategies for helping their children to achieve in school. To broaden
the program beyond the Internet, MBRT also has established a statewide
network for issuing Parents Count messages through workplace emails,
newsletters, and fact sheets.
The newest component of Achievement Counts, a website (www.mbrt.org/teenweb)
designed to engage students in career exploration and academic preparation,
will be launched on October 1, Streckfus announced.
"After intensive testing with students, BeWhatIWantToBe.com
was designed to enable us to sustain our conversation with students,
allowing them to explore careers, identify their strengths and interests,
and begin making decisions that will allow them to shape and pursue
their career goals," says Streckfus.
The website initially will highlight four industries - health, finance,
aerospace, and teaching - and will include profiles of workers in
each field, explaining why they chose a particular career path and
what they did to get to their current position. "Achievement Counts
offers positive evidence that students will make good decisions
if we provide them with credible reasons, good information, and
a vision of what is possible," notes Maryland State Superintendent
of Schools Dr. Nancy S. Grasmick.
Citing a national survey by Public Agenda in which 65% of high school
students admitted they could do better in school if they tried,
Dr. Grasmick told the Annual Meeting audience, "The Maryland Business
Roundtable, in partnership with the Maryland State Department of
Education, is uniquely positioned to explain to those students the
reasons why they must try."
Funders for MBRT's Achievement Counts program are: Adventist HealthCare,
AEGON/ Transamerica Foundation, Bank of America, The Center for
State Scholars, CitiFinancial, Constellation Energy Group, Dollar
General Corporation, France Merrick Foundation, IBM Corporation,
Kaiser Permanente, KPMG Partners, Lockheed Martin Corporation, Macht
Philanthropic Fund, M&T Bank, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center,
Northrop Grumman, Provident Bank, SunTrust Bank, T. Rowe Price Associates,
The Aber D. Unger Foundation, University of Maryland-Baltimore,
University System of Maryland/USDOE, Verizon, Wachovia Bank, and
The Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Foundation.
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