MISSION

The mission of the Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium (MAEC) is to assist school systems and other educational organizations to create learning environments free of race, gender, class, ethnic and culture biases so that students of all backgrounds will have equal opportunities to flourish.

BACKGROUND

The Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium (MAEC) was founded as a private not-for-profit corporation in 1992. Its professional staff consists of educators who are experienced in developing effective school programs to meet the needs of diverse student populations.

In 1992, the MAEC successfully competed for an U.S. Department of Education grant to provide Title IV Desegregation Assistance Services to school districts in the mid-Atlantic states. Under this grant, MAEC provides training and other assistance services, free of charge, to school districts in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania,Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia who are seeking to comply with the non-discrimination requirements of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. A renewal of this grant was awarded to MAEC in 1996.

In addition to grants from the U.S. Department of Education (under the Office of Special Programs, the Women's Educational Equity Act, and the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education), the MAEC has received funding for its projects from the District of Columbia Public Schools, the University of Maryland at College Park, and the Maryland Commission on African-American History and Culture.

Since its inception, MAEC has provided training and technical assistance services to the state departments of education in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia, and to seventy school districts within those states.

MAJOR PROGRAMS:

1. The Mid-Atlantic Equity Center, which provides Title IV equity training and technical assistance services to state and local education agencies in the mid-Atlantic region seeking compliance with the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
2. The Museum Magnet Schools Evaluation Project, a MAEC-designed three-year participatory evaluation of the D.C. Museum Magnet School program, a joint project of D.C. Public Schools and the Smithsonian Institution.
3. Evaluation of the National Museum of American Art Teacher Training Program. The evaluation protocol includes measurement of the effectiveness of training carried out as well as measurement of the extent to which the training is in fact transferred into classroom practice.

OTHER ACTIVITIES INCLUDE:

Coalition Building and Information Dissemination through:

1. The National Origin Specialists Network;
2. The African American Student Achievement Network; and
3. The Title IX Network

Planning and Evaluation such as:

1. Developing a model to build in a Continuing Evaluation and School Improvement Process for districts with a diverse student population;
2. Providing state-level assistance for Multicultural Education Policy and Program Planning; and
3. Providing state and district-level assistance for appropriate assessment and placement of language minority and racial minority students.

Program Innovation and Development such as:

1. State-wide and School-wide School Improvement Program to identify schools failing to meet standards of excellence and to help them reform policy and practice, professional development programs, and in-school program development
2. A Student Equity Leadership Program for training middle- and high-school student leadership teams for race, gender, national origin, disability equity and cross-cultural communication
3. A Parent Empowerment Program through which parents of diverse cultures become effective educational ombudspersons for their children.

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

The Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium, Inc. is incorporated in the State of Maryland as a not-for-profit corporation to act exclusively for charitable and educational purposes. It is organized as follows:

The Board of Directors is composed of seven members who direct the management of MAEC business and affairs.

Board members are:

WEBSITE FEATURES

This website features the following on-line resources:

• Publications on Equity Issues
• Equity Guidelines for Principals and Administrators
• Equity Tips for Classroom Teachers
• Equity Guidelines for School Counselors
• Equity Information for Parents
• An Input Form for Requesting Technical Assistance from MAEC Staff
• Federal Laws Governing Equity and Access Issues in Education
• State Laws, Regulations and Guidelines Governing Equity and Access Issues in Education
  (for DE, DC, MD, PA, VA, WV)
• Links to Other On-line Sources of Information, By Subject Category

We strongly welcome any suggestions that you can make to improve this site and to make it more useful to teachers, principals, parents and students. Please send your comments to us via our mailing list & feedback form.