History

MAEC (Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium, Inc.) was founded in 1992, as an education non-profit dedicated to increasing access to a high quality education for culturally, linguistically, and economically diverse learners. We are the long-time home of a regional technical assistance center funded by the U.S. Department of Education. The federal equity assistance centers were created to serve state departments of education, districts, and schools and help them address issues relating to race, gender, religion, and national origin (English Learners). As of 2016, MAEC’s region now encompasses 15 states and territories. Designated as Region I, the Center for Education Equity (CEE) at MAEC reaches Connecticut, Delaware, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virgin Islands, and West Virginia. MAEC also supports the Region II equity assistance center which stretches across the South. The Center work has led us to work on issues such as the identification and placement of English Learners in supportive and appropriate instructional environments; creating positive and safe schools; increasing participation of girls and students of color in STEM, and addressing disproportionality in discipline.

Our social justice and civil rights origins have always distinguished MAEC as a champion of collaboration, innovation, and equity. This distinction led to our recognition and expansion into family, school, and community engagement (FSCE) in 2006 as the Maryland Parental Information and Resources Center (MD PIRC). From 2006-2011, MAEC helped develop national and state policies that incorporated the link between FSCE and student achievement. Founder and President, Susan Shaffer, is a member of the National Working Group on FSCE, an advisory group to the White House on FSCE. The Working Group developed the definition that is now used in national Title I Parent Involvement, Part A Policy as well as other state policies throughout the country. As the MD PIRC, MAEC promoted and developed the proclamation of October as Parent Involvement Month in Maryland, was recognized statewide by Senators Ben Cardin and Barbara Mikulski for our Regional FSCE Conferences and Steering Committees, and were nationally recognized by the National Network of Partnership Schools from Johns Hopkins University for our parenting programs and statewide collaborations to bring families’ voices into education policy and practices.