HISTORY OF THE ORGANIZATION
The Maryland Center for Character (previously called Values) Education (MCCE) grew out of a concern about ethics and values in the Baltimore business community. The Baltimore Region Council of Governments sponsored in 1990 a conference called Workforce 2000. Five task groups were formed as a result of the conference. The Task Group on Community Values was charged with determining the significance of values and ethics in the workplace. The group was asked to identify the needs and the means for addressing them and concluded that:
Values in the work place have a profound influence on the quality of product and the services, as well as on the quality of life, of a community. A workforce influencing and influenced by positive values can provide the impetus for an economically and socially vibrant community-one that becomes nationally, as well as internationally, recognized for integrity, quality, and vision.
One of the Task Group's twelve recommendations was entitled "Encouraging Values Education", which stipulated that the region should establish and interface with a Center for Values Education designed to enhance the teaching and modeling of values in elementary and secondary schools, as well as in teacher education programs.
After two years of study by a group of educators, business leaders, and community activists, the Center was established, holding its first official meeting in July, 1992. Soon the work of the Center expanded beyond the Baltimore Region to the State of Maryland.
Strong ties with the public school systems of Maryland were established through membership on the Board of Directors and through various programs developed by the Center. The Maryland State Department of Education's Office of Character Education has played a significant role in the organization, as have the Archdiocese of Maryland and the independent schools of Maryland.
Milestones:
Maryland Center for Character Education Played Key Role in Achieving Million Dollar Grant
Maryland received one of only four awards given nationally by the U. S. Department of Education's Fund for the Improvement of Education Partnership in Character Education MSDE, and the public schools in Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Calvert County, Fredrick County, and Prince George's County were partners in this grant.
In 1983, Maryland's Values Education Commission defined character and citizenship goals which Marylanders wanted to see fostered in schools. Since then, the state's twenty-four local school systems have been working to integrate character education into the curriculum.
The five initial school systems designed a range of approaches to meet children's character education needs. This pilot program was designed to allow school systems to network and share ideas to find out what works best in different communities. Each of the participating local school systems developed its own model character education program based on parent, teacher, and school administration input.
The goal of the "Maryland's Partnership" in Character Education and MSDE incentives is to create a safe and orderly school environment for students by teaching values like caring, civic virtue and citizenship, justice and fairness, respect, responsibility, trustworthiness, and other elements deemed appropriate by the local school system.
The Maryland Center for Character Education played a key role in the development of this grant proposal. Phyllis Bailey, a past president of the Maryland Center for Character Education, was lent by the Baltimore County School system to the MSDE to create the successful grant proposal.
MSDE provided technical and professional assistance to the local school systems in the areas of curriculum development training, networking, and communicating with the community. The total grant award was $958,027.00, which was distributed over a four-year period.
The Maryland Center for Character Education
29 West Susquehanna Ave., Suite 300, Baltimore, MD 21204Phone: 410-823-4902
Fax: 410-828-9661
E-Mail: MCCEcharacter@aol.com
