MAEC News

BETHESDA, MD — NOVEMBER 27, 2019 —  Together Juntos (TJ), a program of MAEC, Inc., worked with MSDE to draft a strategic plan to strengthen Maryland’s early childhood system. The Together Juntos team first conducted a needs assessment through town hall meetings, surveys, document reviews, and focus group discussions. More than 1,281 stakeholders participated. 

Following the needs assessment, TJ helped facilitate roundtable discussions with hundreds of participants. Practitioners, family members, community partners, administrators, and educators from across the state helped guide the development of the draft strategic plan which MSDE recently released for public comment. 

The strategic plan, which was open for public comment through November 27, will be finalized in early 2020, and will frame priority goals and strategic activities through 2025. As part of the TJ, MAEC is also training MSDE early childhood administrators helping them infuse an equity perspective into their work.  

“Our team has been working diligently in partnership with MSDE. We want to make sure that young children, particularly low income, racially, linguistically, and culturally diverse children, have access to quality programs to help them start their education journey. That is why the goals and action steps presented in the strategic plan, and the indicators that we are working to develop now, are so integral,” said project director and Vice President of MAEC, Maria del Rosario (Charo) Basterra.

Together Juntos exemplifies MAEC’s goal to turn equity from a value into an integrated and sustainable practice. MAEC combats structural, cultural, and operational policies and procedures that impede the success of racially, culturally, and linguistically diverse students in the United States

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