6 Things You Didn't Know about MCIE
Hey, Y’all!
It’s officially the holiday season! And for nonprofits, GivingTuesday is an important day to raise money for our cause and share who we are and what we do.
So, if you are just getting to know us or have been around for a while, here is a little bit about MCIE you may not know.
MCIE can’t provide our services and resources for families and professionals without you!
What does MCIE stand for?
You are not the first person to wonder about that. MCIE stands for the Maryland Coalition for Inclusive Education. I know. It is a mouthful.
The reason we switched to the acronym is that the people we had partnerships with typically shortened it to MCIE anyway. So, a couple of years ago, we officially rebranded to MCIE.
When you look up our Gold Status on Guidestar, we are still known as our full name.
We’ve Been Promoting Inclusive Education Since 1988
Founded in 1988, we got our start focused on community organizing and administrative advocacy. Today, MCIE successfully promotes effective and inclusive education practices in Maryland, across the United States, and around the world!
We develop partnerships with school districts and state agencies; and we collaborate with universities, advocacy agencies, professional organizations, and a variety of disability groups.
We assist schools in their work to improve instruction and social/behavioral supports, and we share current information on evidence-based educational practices. Through our customized services, we provide solutions for inclusive education at the system, school, and student levels.
We’ve Equipped Over 100 School Districts to Make Lasting Change
Since our founding, MCIE has equipped over 100 school districts across the state of Maryland and beyond to include students who are at the greatest risk of exclusion.
How do we build inclusive school practices? What do we need to do to prepare school leadership and staff? What skills need to be developed to sustain inclusive practices? And where do we begin?
If your school system is ready to engage in a multi-year process in systemic change with district leadership and demonstration of successful inclusion of all students, the first step is to contact us for a free initial consultation. Email us at mcie@mcie.org to get started.
We will work with you on a small or large scale and with a long-term goal based on your data. We know how to build systemic inclusive school practices, transform educational services, increase the rate of placement of learners with disabilities in general education, reduce removals and suspensions, and improve outcomes for all students across all school settings. We've been doing it for three decades and can partner with you to transform your school and district.
We Specialize in Student-Centered Planning as a Tool for Inclusive Education
MCIE staff have experience with including learners who have significant support needs to be successful academically or behaviorally. Using a student-centered planning process, we help schools bring together the best ideas from family and school staff, create a student action plan and/or behavior plan, and offer additional in-school support to the teaching and related services staff who will be implementing those plans.
Our goal is to make you successful! We use the MAPS process (Making Action Plans) and student planning tools to help schools and families come together to create a plan for success.
Your gift assists MCIE with providing student planning and consultation with families.
We Offer a Wide Variety of Professional Learning
MCIE's services range from individual teacher coaching, grade-level training sessions, and topical workshops, to year-long capacity-building tailored to your unique needs.
We believe comprehensive professional development programming can help create stronger inclusive schools. Our courses address teaching diverse learners in the general education class, designing class-wide positive behavior supports, implementing prevention and intervention strategies to support inclusive learning, collaboration and co-teaching, and individual behavior support planning. These are available on a contract basis to schools and school systems in Maryland, across the United States, and beyond.
In addition to full faculty and district-wide workshops, MCIE staff can design training workshops for educators, people with disabilities, families who have children with disabilities, school administrators, and the general community to meet your needs.
In 2020, Think Inclusive became the official blog of MCIE.
So, a little bit about how Think Inclusive became connected with MCIE.
After spending 16 years in public education as a special education classroom teacher and district support specialist, I became the Director of Communications for MCIE, along with being the Editor-in-Chief of Think Inclusive, and host/producer of the Think Inclusive Podcast.
Every day, I have the privilege of advocating for inclusive education and showing the world what is possible.
Something that I realized once I started in my role full time is that changing people's mindsets is the toughest part of changing systems. Believe it or not, the tools that make inclusive education possible are simple. It is much harder to convince people that we are segregating too many students with significant disabilities in disability-specific special education programs.
Here is how you can help.
This year we have focused on raising funds to support writers with disabilities, along with providing student planning and consultation with families, along with our communication and dissemination efforts about inclusive practices.
These services and resources cannot be sustained without your help.
Donate to MCIE today to expand our reach to promote and sustain inclusive education for all learners.
Your gift supports our mission to advance the success of all children and youth in their school communities and to be the catalyst for the meaningful and successful inclusion of all students in their neighborhood schools.
Thanks for your time and attention! And don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. And remember, inclusion always works.
With Gratitude,
Tim Villegas