Educational Organizations

One influential organization that supports the development of bilingual students and educators is the National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE).

NABE is very involved with social media, and is linked with Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, and even has their own YouTube channel. There are many avenues for even nonmembers to keep up with NABE.

If an individual is interested in a NABE membership, the rates are very reasonable. An annual membership for individuals is usually $60, but university student memberships are only $30. A membership with NABE includes six annual issues of its PERSPECTIVES magazine, as well as unrestricted access to the website, discounted rates for other publications, professional networking opportunities, and much more.

There are three publications put out by the NABE organization. One is the PERSPECTIVES magazine. The other two publications are research journals called the Bilingual Research Journal, and the peer reviewed NABE Journal of Research and Practice. Some of these publications are available to the public and the organization’s website.

NABE offers their 45^th annual conference in the spring of 2016, which is a 3-day conference in Chicago. A basic package for the entire event is around $445.

NABE is one of the only national organizations that is actively working to ensure that minority students have equal opportunities to learn English, as well as support bilingual educators and usher in improvements to the field of bilingual education in the United States.

More information can be found at the organization website: http://www.nabe.org/

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A Michigan-based organization which supports technology in education is the Michigan Association for Media in Education (MAME). The purpose of this organization is mainly to support Michigan library media specialists, and it does this by providing opportunities for profession growth and access to resources and workshops, by keeping educators up to date on recent educational media news, and by advocating for school libraries.

MAME can be accessed through the social media sites Twitter and Facebook, which both provide extra resources and information about the organization.

An annual membership with MAME is $50 for individuals and $30 for fulltime students (with proof of fulltime, post-secondary school attendance). Joining MAME allows members to be part of MAMElist, an active listserv community for sharing educational resources, Media Matters monthly newsletters, discounts on the annual conference, professional development opportunities, and an awards program for recognizes outstanding professionals in school library media services.

The annual conference is in late fall, and is a two day conference. For nonmembers, the price of the full conference is $220 and $165 for 1-day attendees. Discounts are available for students and retirees upon request.

More information can be found at the organization website: http://www.mimame.org/