MCEA, in partnership with NEA’s Center for Organizing, created The Montgomery Institute.  The institute provides programs for teacher unions across the country to learn how we have achieved the level of success we have.  MCEA has been sought out for technical assistance and support by other teacher unions on the topics of leadership, collaboration, professional growth, and collaboration.  MCEA has a very distinct story that is built on collaboration, teacher leadership, and focus on student learning.  Our Ambassadors help us tell the unique and powerful story of MCEA.

The Montgomery Institute is part of the NEA Center for Organizing Institute System.  The purpose of this institute is to share best practices across NEA locals and affiliates, to showcase the successful models and strategies employed by the our local, and to collectively achieve scalability and sustainability in our work for students and education professionals.  A core belief of the Institute System is that the people closest to the work should lead the work and that peer to peer learning among educators and education leaders is the best path to strong NEA organizations.  The NEA Center for Organizing Institute System has six institute sites: Montgomery County, Seattle, St. Paul, Milwaukee, Louisiana, and New Mexico.  The Montgomery Institute is focused on foundational and relational organizing around these issues: leadership development across the career continuum, leveraging professional practice leadership, leadership structures and programs, social justice, professional issue organizing.

---

See our current institute offerings here.

Additional updates will be noted in the Center for Organizing training calendar. 

Our past institute offerings:

Organize to Lead – Partners, Coalitions and Communities (February 2017)

• Across the United States, we have much work to do to extend the promise of public education to every student. In recent years, attacks on teachers, high-stakes testing and the encroachment of privatization have increased, threatening the ability of schools to play their vital role as pillars of our democracy. We are missing valuable opportunities to prepare the next generation of Americans, particularly low-income students and students of color, for success and leadership. When we address the systemic economic and social challenges that lead to school failure, we will succeed – but Unions alone cannot achieve this success.  The new federal education legislation, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), sends much of the decision-making power to create mechanisms for student success to the state level and local levels.  School employees and their partners can and should become a vehicle for whole community development. How can our locals affiliates take advantage of this opportunity and have significant impact?  Where do we even begin?  Large wins in this area of school reform will only be realized with strong partnerships, broad coalitions and community engagement.
• This training will:
  • Introduce participants to NEA and Affiliate strategic partners who are working with members on strategies at the local and state level that advocate for greater student-centered learning, community investment and engagement, and equitable school environments focused on teaching and learning
  • Present a number of strategies for identifying, growing and engaging partners outside your organization
  • Expand participants’ understanding of leadership and various ways the union can grow leaders
  • Use organizing skills and strategies to develop a plan that engages leaders in policy advocacy that supports student learning and teacher quality
  • Develop a narrative around empowered union leaders that collaborate with critical stakeholders to co-create solutions designed to shape the future of education, improve student learning, enhance professional practice and the quality of professionals.

Organize to Lead: Strong Worksite Leadership (Jan 2017)

• Educators must have a voice in the issues that matter most for students and for great teaching and learning. This begins with a firm belief that those closest to the work must have meaningful participation in decisions affecting their work. ESSA changes provide many more opportunities to use teacher leaders in shaping policy and regulations impacting teaching and learning.  The work requires a broader definition of leadership and must include diverse representation.  Strong locals are created by engaging the membership in a strong worksite development strategy.  Association leaders, no matter how strong they are, cannot single-handedly win the types of change that matter most to our members and potential members.  Nor can individual leaders or staff reach members, potential members and activist needed to move the change.  When structures are intentionally built to support organizational goals that grow a broad, diverse leadership, then locals create a stronger, more engaged membership.  Learn how one union has expanded, distributed and supported leadership opportunities in the worksite. Teams will learn how to build the credibility and value of union membership through the intentional identification and development of leaders and their engagement in a variety of programs and structures.  We will highlight programs that develop leadership, leadership structures and leadership practices to broadly distribute leadership and engagement among members.
• Teams in this training will:
  • Explore leadership definitions, practices and beliefs
  • Learn to intentionally identify, develop and engage leaders to determine the issues that matter most to them
  • Understand structures and processes for engaging the maximum number of people in the work of the union

Leading to Organize: Race, Diversity, and Justice (October 2016)

• Strong and growing educator unions and the members who form them want the best for students and communities who make up public schools. Despite this will, there remains a deep struggle and troubling questions about equity, access and fair play in nearly every school and classroom today.  These struggles and questions are not easy to answer in isolation from colleagues, our communities or simply through self- reflection.  The Montgomery Institute is hosting an event to support affiliates (staff, leaders, partners and members) that have interests in developing more effective and meaningful practices in the areas of race, diversity, and justice. Educators, staff and leaders from the Montgomery County Education Association will share how we have used a series of strong content, focused action and intentional leadership development to begin the open and tough work of becoming literate in race, equity and justice. Equity Works, an MCEA initiative, is a groundbreaking teacher-led union, management and higher education partnership that offers an integrated set of capacity development options that include job-embedded support, a beginning professional learning event, a five-course, 15-credit graduate certificate and a master’s program in the theory, research and practice of teaching through the lenses of race, equity and justice lens—Equity and Excellence in Education.
• Teams will:
• Understand the model MCEA developed and implemented.
• Use organizing skills and strategies to develop a plan to begin designing a program for your district.
• Develop a story to advocate for professional development offerings that enhance professional practice and the quality of professionals and improve student learning.
• Increase awareness of NEA resources to support professional growth opportunities.

Leading to Organize: Teacher Leadership with a Focus on ESSA (September 2016)

• The changes in ESSA will require strong locals and strong affiliates with member leaders empowered to participate in policy discussions at state and local levels. Affiliates and locals across the country are working with NEA to prepare for this work through policy study, issue development and member organizing.  This is our third session on ESSA and we continue to learn from and incorporate feedback from affiliates to provide relevant technical assistance in understanding the types of decisions that can be made, showcase a number of states who are already moving forward with this work and help teams understand how to intentionally target, grow, and support empowered leaders. This session will provide technical assistance in understanding the types of decisions that can be made, showcase a number of states which are already moving forward with this work and help teams understand how to intentionally target, grow, and support empowered leaders. The unions that will share their work are helping members grow into teacher leaders who are skillful at collaborative, facilitative leadership work. Learn the practices and experience a curriculum you can use to support your own practice, policy development and the development of your union leaders as they take the lead on teaching and learning issues most relevant to them.
• Teams will:
  • Learn how ESSA changes allow them many more opportunities to use teacher leaders in shaping policy and regulations impacting teaching and learning.
  • Consider how bargaining tactics may be employed to shape ESSA implementation at the local level.
  • Expand their understanding of leadership and various ways in which the union can grow leaders.
  • Use organizing skills and strategies to develop a plan that engages leaders in policy advocacy that supports student learning and teacher quality.
  • Develop a narrative around empowered union leaders that collaborate with critical stakeholders to co-create solutions designed to shape the future of education, improve student learning, enhance professional practice and the quality of professionals.