The National Center for Montessori in the Public Sector has earned certification as a MACTE Recognized Organization, or MRO, joining the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI), the American Montessori Society (AMS), the International Montessori Council (IMC), and five more national and international organizations.
MACTE, the Montessori Accreditation Council for Teacher Education, is a U.S. Department of Education recognized organization which accredits Montessori teacher education programs. MACTE accreditation is widely recognized, and it is required in 8 of the 11 states offering a pathway to teacher licensure for Montessori trained teachers.
What does this mean?
Over the last decade, NCMPS has collaborated with schools and training programs to develop the Public Montessori Residency Consortium (PMRC), a coalition dedicated to teacher education focused specifically on public schools. (Read more about the PMRC on MontessoriPublic here and here.)
Now, teacher education programs can affiliate with NCMPS as part of their MACTE accreditation, join this collaborative work, and signal to students, employers, and the Montessori community their commitment to preparing effective public Montessori educators.
All NCMPS-affiliated programs offer training based on these principles:
- Three integrated structural features:
- Complete Montessori training aligned to public school standards.
- Additional coursework specific to public Montessori.
- A school culture of continuous improvement.
- Residency model: Training is embedded in the schools where adult learners are working.
- Culture: Partner schools support continuous improvement with regular coaching, Child Study, and Lesson Study.
- Anti-bias, anti-racist: Training explicitly addresses diversity, equity, and inclusion through coursework and ongoing, embedded, critical reflection.
- Theory: Understanding of Montessori theory is linked directly to practice.
- Collaboration: PMRC members collaborate and share resources to continually improve public Montessori teacher preparation.
- Accreditation: PMRC members commit to MACTE accreditation for their teacher education programs.
Teacher education programs aligned with this mission can apply to join the PMRC and gain NCMPS affiliation. (MACTE accreditation requires affiliation with an MRO.) Programs affiliated with another MRO may be able to join the PMRC as non-affiliated members.
To learn more, contact NCMPS Director of Teacher Residency Laure Fleming at [email protected].
David worked in private Montessori for more than twenty years as a parent, three-to-six year-old and adolescent teacher, administrator, writer, speaker, and advocate. In 2016 he began working with the National Center for Montessori in the Public Sector. David lives in Portland, Oregon.
