Local Corporations Support College of Education Efforts to Improve Education in Prince George's County Schools

Giant Food, PepsiCo and HumanVision present checks to support University of Maryland project

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (Nov. 29, 2001) - Local corporations are teaming up with the University of Maryland College of Education to help improve student achievement at three public schools in Prince George's County.

Giant Food, PepsiCo and HumanVision today signed on as the latest to support the Bladensburg Project, a new initiative of the university's Maryland Institute for Minority Achievement and Urban Education. (www.education.umd.edu/MIMAUE) The project is a collaborative effort of university researchers and school district teachers and administrators that will develop reforms and interventions to improve the quality of teaching and student learning in a low-performing feeder school cluster. The strategies developed in this project will be adaptable to other clusters throughout the district.

Giant Food Inc. and PepsiCo have each committed $200,000 over three years to the project. HumanVision, a high-tech venture and incubator firm based in Prince George's County, contributed $50,000. University of Maryland President C. D. Mote (www.inform.umd.edu/CampusInfo/Departments/PRES/meet.html)received the contributions today from Barry F. Scher, vice president of public affairs at Giant Food (representing Dick Baird, chief executive officer) Doug Pace, sales director, Pepsi-Cola Company (www.pgcps.pg.k12.md.us/~blade/bhs.html); and Gary S. Murray, chief executive officer of HumanVision.

On hand to witness the event was Dave Stofa, principal of Bladensburg High School; Ann E. Weiser, Executive Vice President Human Resources, and Bill Harris, Vice President of Corporate Diversity and Community Development, Giant Food, Inc., and Martin L. Johnson, associate dean for urban and minority education, and interim director of the Maryland Institute for Minority Achievement and Urban Education (www.education.umd.edu/MIMAUE) at the College of Education.

"One of the biggest challenges facing our nation today is the achievement of students and particularly those in large urban school districts," said President Mote.

"Much of the research in our College of Education (www.education.umd.edu) is dedicated to addressing this problem, and we are very pleased that the corporate community is joining with us in the effort to improve urban schools and raise minority achievement."

The Bladensburg Project taps university faculty, researchers and graduate students to provide intense professional development to increase teachers' knowledge and leadership training for principals and other managers at Bladensburg High, William Wirt Middle and Rogers Heights Elementary. The project also includes tutoring and other interventions to improve students' math and reading skills as well as other instructional support in the classroom. The program is being developed with direct involvement of school staff to assure that reforms address the specific needs of the teachers and students.

"Our commitment is to work collaboratively with individual school districts to target real-world problems that they face every day," said Edna Mora Szymanski, (www.education.umd.edu/dean/deanspage.html) dean of the College of Education. "By working in partnership we can best achieve the shared goal of building robust learning environments that support high achievement for all students."

The Maryland Institute for Minority Achievement and Urban Education links the faculty and resources of the University of Maryland's nationally ranked College of Education in a formal partnership with the Maryland State Department of Education. In a joint effort, they foster a unified, research-based approach to working with individual school districts across the state to address the problems of minority achievement as they exist in local schools.

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Media contact: Cassandra Robinson, University Communications, 301.405.4625

College of Education contact: Deborah Hudson, 301.405.8145

About the College of Education

The College of Education at the University of Maryland is ranked 22^nd among the top colleges of education by U.S. News & World Report for 2002. The Department of Counseling and Personnel Services ranks first in the nation, the Department of Special Education ranks tenth, and each of the college’s six departments has at least one program ranked in the top 20 by U.S. News or another national ranking. Offering undergraduate, masters and doctoral degrees, the College of Education provides research- and practice-oriented programs through its six departments: Counseling and Personnel Services, Curriculum and Instruction, Education Policy and Leadership, Human Development, Measurement, Statistics and Evaluation, and Special Education. College programs prepare educators, counselors, psychologists, administrators, researchers, and educational specialists. Graduates work with individuals from infancy through adulthood in schools, community agencies, colleges and universities. Educational programs are accredited and approved by the following: National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, Maryland State Department of Education, American Psychological Association, Council on Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Professions, and Council on Rehabilitation Education.

For more information, visit: www.education.umd.edu

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12-12-01