Nobody knows more about great teaching than great teachers.
That’s why MEA-MFT and our foundation, the Montana Professional Teaching Foundation (MPTF), pour considerable time and resources into providing top-quality professional development for teachers. It’s why we’ve focused even more in recent years on teacher leadership.
As part of those efforts, MEA-MFT and MPTF have been facilitating three major new projects: Teacher Leadership Initiative (TLI), JumpStart, and Elevating and Celebrating Effective Teachers and Teaching (ECET2).
“We brought all three projects together over four days this summer under the umbrella of teacher leadership,” explained Marco Ferro, MEA-MFT’s public policy director.
More than 200 MEA-MFT teacher-members attended these high-energy events June 22-25 in Missoula. Here’s a synopsis of these projects:
Teacher Leadership Initiative: A partnership of MEA-MFT, NEA, and the Center for Teacher Quality, TLI cultivates teachers who want to be leaders in education without leaving the classroom to become administrators. MEA-MFT and MPTF have recruited 67 members to participate in TLI over the last two years.
JumpStart Montana: This three-day workshop prepares teachers to be successful candidates for National Board Certification, the highest level of certification a U.S. teacher can achieve.
ECET2: Brought to Montana by MEA-MFT member Anne Keith, a Bozeman math teacher and Montana’s 2010 Teacher of the Year, ECET2 is a celebration of effective teaching. With help from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, ECET2 brought together Montana Teachers of the Year and finalists, presidential math and science award winners, TLI participants, National Board Certified teachers, and others to share innovative teaching practices.
“Teacher voices matter,” said Keith at the ECET2 kick-off dinner.
“Teachers are the ones who can transform education.”
“Elevating the teaching profession is a big part of our mission at MEA-MFT and the Montana Professional Teaching Foundation,” said Eric Feaver, MEA-MFT president and MPTF chair.
“It’s about teachers helping each other teach their best for our kids.”
To learn more about these programs, contact Marco Ferro: [email protected].