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Various organizations and individuals in Baltimore had long recognized the
potential usefulness of establishing a local education research consortium.
In December 2005, the Association
of Baltimore Area Grantmakers (ABAG) gathered school system staff, university-based
researchers, local foundations, and advocacy organizations to
consider the feasibility of a local association that might be
modeled loosely on the Consortium
on Chicago School Research. Over the next nine months, individuals from
The Johns Hopkins University, Morgan
State University, the Baltimore
City Public School System, the Family
League of Baltimore City,
and the Fund for Educational Excellence worked collaboratively
to develop a proposal that led to the founding of BERC.
Funding for BERC began in October 2006. BERC’s initial supporters included the Abell
Foundation, Open
Society Institute-Baltimore, the Jacob
and Hilda Blaustein Foundation, the Spencer
Foundation, the Fund for
Educational Excellence (in cooperation with the Stupski
Foundation and the Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation), and the Annie
E. Casey Foundation.
In 2007, BERC built organizational structure, developed shared understandings of purpose and procedures among the various partners, and pursued an initial demonstration research project. In June 2007, the Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners approved a memorandum of understanding endorsing and guiding BERC’s organizational structure, leadership, data-sharing agreements, and research agenda.
BERC is currently building its Executive
Committee to a full membership of nine, planning or refining organizational
structure, sharing the results of a first demonstration project
(the Pathways
Project), and developing future research priorities through a collaborative
process.
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