ACEI--Your Investment in Future (Why You Belong).

When our founding leaders met at the First Baptist Church in Saratoga Springs, New York, on July 15, 1892, to organize the International Kindergarten Union (IKU), they were motivated by the need for an organization of professionals who were concerned with the "rights, education, and well-being of children in the home, school, and community." Even in 1892, the fledgling organization was not the only organization for teachers. In fact, that first meeting of the IKU took place during a meeting of the National Education Association. Today, you have a choice of many international and national organizations (and their local affiliates), including labor unions and professional specialty organizations with large memberships.

ACEI is a different type of organization. While members of ACEI have access to many of the same benefits that other organizations offer, such as professional journals, meetings, networking opportunities, a Web site, and professional books, those are not the true value of being a member. You belong to ACEI because you believe in its mission and goals. It is still the only organization concerned with best practice for educating the whole child, infancy through early adolescence. If you never received a journal, attended a meeting, bought a discounted book, published an article, served on a committee, or held a leadership position, ACEI would still be the best and most affordable investment you could make to support the teachers who care for the world's children.

Your membership dues also support ACEI's representatives at the United Nations. Whether you are a preservice teacher, a veteran teacher, or preparing a future class of teachers, your investment is supporting the work of UNICEF, UNESCO, and UNDPI. Your interests are represented by two ACEI delegates who are members of three working groups--Education, the Girl Child, and Convention on the Rights of the Child.

In addition, your investment is supporting the development of standards for elementary education programs that will affect the basic education of teachers throughout the next century. Through ACEI's work with the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), you have helped develop new performance-based standards and rubrics for evaluating teacher education programs.

Your membership dues make it possible for you to belong to and collaborate with other organizations, such as the Organisation Mondiale pour l'Education Prescolaire (OMEP), in the upcoming symposium on the development of global standards for early childhood education. You help co-sponsor dozens of initiatives, symposia, and meetings such as the National Head Start Training Conference and the Public Information Resources, Inc.'s conference on "Learning and the Brain." Through your ACEI membership you also have a strong affiliation with the Alliance for Curriculum Reform (ACR), the Council of Organizations for the Professional Preparation of Educators (COPPE), the Maryland Association of Nonprofit Organizations, the U.S. National Teacher of the Year Program, the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC), and Elementary and Early Childhood Education (EECE Partner).

Your investment makes it possible for us to share information about best education practices with parents and teachers around the world through ACEI's Web site (www.acei.org). Position papers, ACEI Speaks brochures, selected professional focus newsletter articles, and many other resources are freely available on our site.

Thank you for your support. We could never do it without you.

--Marilyn B. Gardner, Director of Membership