Membership Information

“The issue is creating multiple discourse communities for educators…keeping the environment reeking with rich ideas, keeping it stoked, keep learning opportunities in the water supply.”

Milbrey McLaughlin, 1994

Print Out the Application for System Membership here!

I. Types of Membership

1. System
2. Individual

II. Benefits of Membership

A. Diverse Learning Opportunities

The Partnership offers multiple opportunities for diverse stakeholders to inform one another and learn together, drawing on practitioner knowledge as well as educational research. Our approaches are purposely diverse, as are our schools and the students within them. Most are provided over time, with reflective conversation about practice the cornerstone of all activity. The learning priorities for 2006-2007 are: creating a college-going culture for all students, teaching and assessing for learning, using technology to enhance learning, and building leadership capacity and professional community. Learning opportunities offered in multiple locations have included:

Seminar Series

Ongoing Groups

On Site Assistance Available on Request

Summer Institutes/Courses (through the University of Maine at Farmington's Outreach Program)

Coaching

Regionalized Statewide Networks

Membership provides partners the opportunity to participate in diverse programs supported by targeted grants awarded to the Western Maine Partnership or other collaborating organizations. The grants may support:

events (i.e. Consulting Schools - Davis Foundation);

direct school or district assistance (i.e. System Change Assistance Program - UNUM Foundation, Leading ME to Promising Futures – U.S. Dept. of Education - Team Leadership Collaborative - Great Maine Schools Project, Gates Foundation);

courses or seminars (i.e. Understanding by Design Mini-Course - Dept. of Education, CSPD);

direct grants to schools (i.e. The Rural Challenge - Annenberg Foundation, Action Research Minigrants - DOE and School Learning Lab - Cox Foundation) or

regional targeted work (i.e. SEED – U.S. Dept. of Education).

In addition, the network of regional partnerships within Maine is increasingly being used as a major infrastructure by many proposal writers and funders to support statewide grants. Involvement in the Partnership thus provides possible access to resources beyond the region.

B. The Western Maine Partnership Bulletin & Calendars

Calendars of learning opportunities in western and central Maine are published regularly and distributed to members along with brochures on specific events. The Western Maine Partnership Bulletin, published occasionally, contains articles about the work and learning-in-progress in Western Maine Partnership schools.

C. Reduced Registration Fees

Whenever possible, WMP activities are offered at reduced cost to members, due to targeted grants that subsidize the work and learning.

D. Shaping the Partnership and Its Direction

The direction of the Partnership is charted by a member leadership team of school and university educators and parents, which acts as an active “think tank” for the Partnership. This group makes and keeps the Partnership a partnership and assures our work is aligned with districts’ real needs. A smaller steering committee of “CEO’s” from partner districts meet as needed to determine and review policy.

III. Criteria for Membership

Membership in the WMP is based on acceptance of the mission, basic beliefs and goals which underlie the Partnership and guide its operations. These goals and beliefs are articulated by the Partnership’s leadership team and revised as the Partnership evolves.

PURPOSE:
THE WESTERN MAINE PARTNERSHIP...
BUILDING COMMUNITIES OF LEARNERS DEDICATED
TO THE CONTINUOUS DEVELOPMENT OF ALL STUDENTS

GUIDING BELIEFS:

Good schools - schools that promote high levels of learning of all students - also support the continuous development of their educators.
Diversity among learners demands a variety of growth opportunities.
Maximum growth occurs in a supportive climate that values the creative spirit, inquiry and risk taking.
Everyone in the Partnership is a teacher, everyone is a learner.
A commitment to collaboration is essential.

~ GOALS 2006 – 2007 ~

To support local efforts to:

Create a college-going culture for all students
Develop teaching and assessing practices that support high levels of learning for all students
Use technology to enhance learning
Build the leadership capacity and professional community necessary to support and sustain continuous learning

2. Geographic location:

Members must be located within the geographic regions of the Western Maine and Kennebec Valley Superintendents’ Associations.

3. Membership Fees: (July 1, 2006 - June 30, 2007)*

System Membership
<999 students = $500.00 per year*
>1000 students = $1,000.00 per year*

Individual Schools and/or Systems
<100 students = $125.00 per year*

Individual Membership = $25.00 per year*

* Determined by the Steering Committee of Partnership superintendents