Mississippi Department of Education Abstract

Contact: Wendy C. Tucker
359 North West Street, Suite 330
Jackson, MS 39205
(601) 359-2586

Mississippi Character Education Partnership

Grant Number: R215V010008 Project Period: 7/1/01–6/30/04 FY 2001 Award: $139,177 FY 2002 Award: $402,007 FY 2003 Award:$458,246

The Mississippi Department of Education and the Mississippi Economic Council have formed an alliance to assist local school districts in complying with Senate Bill 2121, passed by Mississippi's Legislature in 1999. Senate Bill 2121 authorized local school districts to develop and implement a comprehensive K–12 program for character education. Although this legislation was a tremendous step in providing an orderly learning environment for Mississippi's children, there are still steps needed to ensure each school district in Mississippi has an opportunity to participate. With no funds appropriated to execute recent legislation, only 23 out of 152 school districts have complied with Senate Bill 2121. It is the desire of this alliance with the Mississippi Department of Education, Office of Curriculum and Instruction, and the Mississippi Economic Council's M.B. Swayze Educational Foundation – a 501(a)(3) organization – to form a partnership called the "Mississippi Character Education Partnership" with the Meridian Public School District to provide a pilot program for a Character Education model. This pilot program will establish a system for measuring its impact and a tool for disseminating ideas about "best practices."

At the end of the one-year pilot program, the trained Meridian Public School personnel will begin a training program for up to 36 districts in the state using the modules created from the pilot program. The multiple district training will take place in two-day sessions at the State's Regional Service Training Centers located throughout the state with follow-up technical assistance as needed. The goal of this project is to have an effective character education program in at least 37 of Mississippi's 152 school districts at the end of the 2003–2004 school year, the last year of this project. The Partnership proposes to further perpetuate use of the Model by using web-based media to disseminate information and fostering support from local and state agencies.

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