The Montessori Accreditation Council for Teacher Education (MACTE), founded in 1995, is dedicated to improving academic degree and certificate programs for Montessori professional educators who teach and lead in schools at the Infant and Toddler through Secondary II and Administrator levels and to assure the public of their quality.
All children throughout the world have the opportunity to access quality Montessori education.
MACTE is committed to the effective preparation of Montessori teachers. Its mission is to recognize, assure, and promote the high quality of that preparation through its system of accreditation for the ultimate purpose of advancing Montessori student learning.
MACTE accredits certification programs based on (1) the evidence they have that they prepare competent, caring, and qualified professional Montessori educators and (2) the capacity to monitor and improve their program’s quality. MACTE believes the accreditation process is the soundest way to assure the public about the quality of the Montessori teacher education programs. The Montessori teacher education program (not the college, school, department, or other administrative unit of the institution) receives MACTE accreditation.
MACTE’s approach to accreditation helps programs improve and be accountable for their quality. MACTE’s accreditation process starts with the evidence (quantitative and/or qualitative) the faculty truly relies on to convince itself that the graduates are competent beginning Montessori professionals.
The program writes a scholarly monograph, called a Self-Study, which makes the case that the claims the program makes about its graduates are warranted. MACTE’s on-site visit verifies that the evidence cited in the Self-Study is accurate and trustworthy.
MACTE collaborates with and supports the work of professional organizations in the fields of Montessori education, advocacy and policy, postsecondary education, and accreditation in order to promote the efforts of Montessori educator preparation programs and their graduates. These organizations include groups such as the Association for Advancing Quality in Educator Preparation, the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation, the Association for Specialized and Professional Accreditors, Montessori Public Policy Initiative, and more.
Since 1960, Montessori teacher training has been offered by programs affiliated with professional membership societies, and many programs have been established by freestanding, independent institutions. The fact that no recognized agency could offer accreditation to the diverse group of Montessori educator preparation programs led to the formation of a new, specialized agency as the only viable route to recognized accreditation. This path required the identification of established standards and competencies accepted widely by professionals within the Montessori field.
Such standards and competencies were identified by six Montessori teacher education groups in 1978, following a meeting attended by representatives from five Montessori societies, independent institutions, and groups from outside the Montessori community. The competencies were agreed upon by after hours of input and navigation around what determines program graduates are competent, caring and qualified Montessori educators. The Montessori Accreditation Council for Teacher Education, Inc., (MACTE), formally the Accreditation Council for Childhood Education Specialist Schools, Inc. (ACCESS) was incorporated on March 29, 1982. And in 1995, MACTE achieved recognition by the United States Department of Education.
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info@MACTE.org
