LibGuides: Career and Professional Development for Educators: Professional Associations

Professional Associations Intro

This section features valuable resources to connect with other educators and stay informed about the latest advancements in your field. Explore professional associations to enhance your teaching practice and career.

Why are professional associations important for K-12 teachers?

Professional Associations: Joining a professional association offers numerous benefits, including access to professional development resources, journals and publications, networking opportunities, and advocacy for your profession. Many also offer discounted rates for conferences and workshops.

You can use the sidebar at the left to navigate directly to the types of associations you are interested in.

General Educator Professional Development Associations

Association of American Educators (AAE)
The Association of American Educators (AAE) is the largest national, non-union, professional educators' organization, advancing the profession by offering a modern approach to teacher representation and educational advocacy, as well as promoting professionalism, collaboration and excellence without a partisan agenda.
National Education Association (NEA)
Members of the National Education Association of the United States, are the voice of education professionals. Their mission is to advocate for education professionals and to unite their members and the nation to fulfill the promise of public education to prepare every student to succeed in a diverse and interdependent world.
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD)
Focused on improving learning, teaching, and leadership for all students, ASCD provides resources, conferences, and publications for educators.
American Educational Research Association (AERA)
The American Educational Research Association (AERA), a national research society, strives to advance knowledge about education, to encourage scholarly inquiry related to education, and to promote the use of research to improve education and serve the public good.
Teaching & Education Research Association (TERA)
Teaching and Education Research Association (TERA) is an international community of Researchers, Practitioners, Students and Educationists for the development and spread of ideas in the field of teaching and education.
National Association for Multicultural Education (NAME)
Founded in 1990, NAME has become the premier national and international organization that is committed to issues of equity, inclusion, diversity, and justice in schooling.

Affinity-Based Professional Associations

Asian American Educators
AAE aims to strengthen solidarity among its members; maintain and enhance high levels of competence, achievement and professionalism in education as historically exhibited by Asian immigrants and their descendants; promote and instill in individuals of Asian descent an interest in quality education, as well as pride in their Asian-American heritage and culture; educate all people to the importance of the contributions made by Asian-Americans in all fields of endeavor; and promote and defend equality in education for Asian-Americans.
The Association of Chinese Teachers (TACT)
The Association of Chinese Teachers (TACT) is a professional organization of dedicated educators actively striving for educational excellence and equity for all students through: advocacy and outreach, professional development, parent involvement, community collaboration involvement, and participation in educational policy making.
Latinos for Education
Latinos for Education believe that Latino leaders should be at the forefront of creating an equitable education for Latino students. They prepare nuestra comunidad to break down barriers to educational opportunity for the next generation of Latino students. This link goes to their blog where you can explore their work and ideas.
Latinx Education Collaborative: Acción Teacher Self-Advocacy Toolkit
The Latinx Education Collaborative is a nonprofit organization that works tirelessly to retain and increase the representation of Latinx education professionals in K-12. Their vision is to build a world where Latinx Educators are abundant and thriving. This link goes to their collection of tools for self-advocacy.
National Alliance of Black School Educators (NABSE)
NABSE is devoted to furthering the academic success for the nation’s children – particularly children of African descent. NABSE boasts an outreach to a distinguished group of preeminent educators including teachers, administrators, superintendents as well as corporate and institutional members.
National Association of Black Male Educators (NABME)
The mission of the National Association of Black Male Educators is to dramatically increase the number of marginalized children who succeed by dramatically increasing the number of highly effective black and brown male teachers and leaders who positively impact them.

TEL Associations

Council for Exceptional Children (CEC)
CEC advocates for appropriate governmental policies, sets professional standards, provides professional development, and helps professionals obtain conditions and resources necessary for effective professional practice. CEC is known as THE source for information, resources, and professional development for special educators.
National Association of Special Education Teachers (NASET)
The National Association of Special Education Teachers (NASET) is a national membership organization dedicated to rendering all possible support and assistance to those preparing for or teaching in the field of special education. NASET was founded to promote the profession of special education teachers and to provide a national forum for their ideas.

CLD Associations

TESOL International Association
TESOL is an international association of professionals advancing the quality of English language teaching through professional development, research, standards, and advocacy.
National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE)
NABE's mission is to advocate for educational equity and excellence for bilingual/multilingual students in a global society.

Early Childhood Associations

National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
The National Association for the Education of Young Children is a professional membership organization that works to promote high-quality early learning for all young children, birth through age 8, by connecting early childhood practice, policy, and research. They advance a diverse, dynamic early childhood profession and support all who care for, educate, and work on behalf of young children. Together, they work to achieve a collective vision: that all young children thrive and learn in a society dedicated to ensuring they reach their full potential.
National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators (NAECTE)
The NAECTE Foundation raises funds for the benefit of early childhood teacher educators and the children and communities they serve. The goals of the NAECTE Foundation are: Advocacy of NAECTE goals; Promotion and support of research projects related to Early Childhood Teacher Education; and Provision of scholarships for Early Childhood Teacher Education students.

Middle Grades Educator Association

Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE)
Association for Middle Level Education is a membership organization dedicated to helping middle school educators reach every student, grow professionally, and create great schools. They do this by empowering educators to create opportunities to cultivate the potential and possibilities of young adolescents. Their work is guided by our core value that all young adolescents deserve an education.

English Language Associations

National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)
The National Council of Teachers of English is devoted to improving the teaching and learning of English and the language arts at all levels of education. Through collaboration and community, shared stories and shared experiences, NCTE supports teachers and their students in classrooms, on college campuses, and in online learning environments.
International Literacy Association
The International Literacy Association (ILA) is a professional membership organization for literacy professionals across 128 countries. It was founded in 1956, under the name International Reading Association, and for nearly 70 years has supported educators, researchers, and experts from every corner of the world.

Mathematics Associations

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM)
The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics is the world's largest mathematics education organization. NCTM advocates for high-quality mathematics teaching and learning for each and every student.

Science Associations

National Science Teaching Association (NSTA)
The National Science Teaching Association is a vibrant community of science educators and professionals committed to best practices in teaching science and STEM and its impact on student learning. NSTA supports science educators in deepening their knowledge base and enhancing their instructional practice through research-based professional learning.

Social Studies Associations

National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS)
National Council for the Social Studies is the largest professional association in the country devoted solely to social studies education. NCSS engages and supports educators in strengthening and advocating social studies. The NCSS membership represents K-12 classroom teachers, college and university faculty members, curriculum designers and specialists, social studies supervisors, and leaders in the various disciplines that constitute the social studies.

Educational Technology Associations

International Society for Technology in Education
ISTE's mission is to empower educators to reimagine and redesign learning through impactful pedagogy and meaningful technology use. We achieve this by offering transformative professional learning, fostering vibrant communities, and ensuring that digital tools and experiences are accessible and effective.
The Association for Educational Communications and Technology
The Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) is a professional association of instructional designers, educators and professionals who provide leadership and advise policy makers in order to sustain a continuous effort to enrich teaching and learning.
Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education
The Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE), founded in 1981, is an international, not-for-profit, educational organization with the mission of advancing Information Technology in Education and E-Learning research, development, learning, and its practical application.
Online Learning Consortium (OLC)
OLC is a collaborative community of higher education leaders and innovators, dedicated to advancing quality digital teaching and learning experiences designed to reach and engage the modern learner – anyone, anywhere, anytime.

Arts Professional Organizations

National Art Education Association (NAEA)
Founded in 1947, the National Art Education Association is the leading professional membership organization exclusively for visual arts, design, and media arts education professionals.
Educational Theatre Association
The Educational Theatre Association is an international nonprofit that serves as the professional association for theatre educators.
The Arts Education Partnership
The Arts Education Partnership is a national network of more than 200 organizations dedicated to advancing arts education. AEP is the nation’s hub for arts and education leaders, building their leadership capacity to support students, educators and learning environments.
National Dance Education Organization
The National Dance Education Organization (NDEO) is a non-profit organization that supports dance educators in every setting and genre. We are dedicated to advancing dance education for people of all backgrounds.

Music Educators Organizations

The National Association for Music Education
NAfME is a collaborative community that supports music educators and advocates for equitable access to music education.
Decolonizing the Music Room
Decolonizing the Music Room centers Black, Brown, Indigenous, and Asian (BBIA) voices in music education, research, and performance by providing training and educational content to pre-service and practicing educators and creating community programming for people of all ages.
American Orff-Shulwerk Association
The American Orff-Schulwerk Association is a professional organization of educators dedicated to the creative music and movement approach developed by Carl Orff and Gunild Keetman.
Organization of American Kodály Educators
The Organization of American Kodály Educators was founded in 1974. Its purpose is to promote Zoltan Kodály’s concept of “Music for Everyone” through the improvement of music education in schools.
Dalcroze Society of America
The Dalcroze Society of America is a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation dedicated to promoting the artistic and pedagogical principles of Emile Jaques-Dalcroze through educational workshops, publications, financial and consultative assistance, and the encouragement of local chapters throughout the United States.

Health and Physical Education Professional Organizations

The National Association for Sport and Physical Education
As a nonprofit membership association they “enhance knowledge, improve professional practice, and increase support for high quality physical education, sport, and physical activity programs.”
SHAPE America
SHAPE America – Society of Health and Physical Educators serves as the voice for 200,000+ health and physical education professionals across the United States. The organization’s extensive community includes a diverse membership of health and physical educators, as well as advocates, supporters, and 50+ state affiliate organizations. Since its founding in 1885, the organization has defined excellence in school-based health education and physical education
National Commission for Health Education Credentialing
NCHEC's vision is to promote, improve, and protect the health of people through upholding the highest quality standards in health education certifications. The mission of NCHEC is to enhance the professional practice of Health Education by promoting and sustaining a credentialed body of Health Education Specialists. To meet this mission, NCHEC certifies health education specialists, promotes professional development, and strengthens professional preparation and practice.

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