Mid-Willamette Education Consortium
Bringing educators together for Career Technical Education (CTE).
What is MWEC?
The Mid–Willamette Education Consortium is a regional partnership formed to promote career technical education and extended learning opportunities in the region. The schools in the region are organized into a consortium in order to better meet the needs of all students and to be able to collaborate together and leverage funding to improve the opportunities for all members. Governance for the consortium is through the MWEC Executive Council.
MWEC is comprised of -
- 24 high school districts
- 3 online charter schools
- Two community colleges (Chemeketa and Oregon Coast)
- The Willamette Education Service District (which operates schools at William P Lord High School and Willamette Career Academy), the Oregon School for the Deaf, and three private high schools (Blanchet, Regis, and Western Christian School)
- In addition, MWEC works with a variety of business and industry partners in the region
MWEC serves the region by -
- Leading the Perkins Consortium
- Facilitating communication for partners by hosting events, trainings, and meetings
- Providing meaningful, sustained professional development
- Facilitate secondary CTE teacher licensure and in this capacity coordinates with the Oregon Department of Education and Teacher Standards and Practices Commission on all CTE licensure issues for the region
- Building career and technical education (CTE) capacity throughout the Mid-Willamette Valley
Professional Learning Communities
Educators from throughout the MWEC region are participating together in regional Professional Learning Communities (PLC).
Through these groups, educators are focused on -
- Learning for all students
- Sharing of best practices
- Learning by doing
- A commitment to continuous improvement
- Results, as evidenced through technical skill assessments
-
Resources
Tools for Consortium Members
Professional Development Event Planning
- If you need assistance with conference registration or travel, please contact us.
Consortium Rules and Guidelines
- For information about consortium rules and guidelines around equipment purchasing and inventory or professional development, please refer to the Handbook
- For more information about how to request professional development through MWEC, please email mwec@chemeketa.edu.
-
What is CTE?
Career and Technical Education (CTE) is an educational program for high school and community college students based on industry needs. CTE includes coursework in areas such as business, health care, law enforcement and manufacturing, to name a few.
Career and Technical Education (CTE)
- Prepares and supports students in acquiring the technical skills and academic knowledge needed for success in highly-skilled 21st century careers
- Equips potential employees with certifications, technical, and problem solving skills to succeed in the modern workplace making it good for businesses
- The hands-on, relevant, and engaging learning experiences motivate students to
- be in school
- participate
- learn
- Increases a student's marketable skills and their ability to compete for jobs
- Provides educational experience that is practical and affordable
- The shortest path to a student's first dollar
-
What is Perkins?
Perkins is a federal grant intended to "develop more fully the academic and career and technical skills of secondary education students and post-secondary education students who elect to enroll in Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs."
Funding for Perkins is provided to states and is managed by each state. In the State of Oregon, Perkins funds can only be spent on approved programs of study.
The Perkins funds for MWEC's region are
- Managed through a consortium model
- Applied for, on behalf of all consortium schools, through an annual Perkins budget and narrative submission by MWEC to the Oregon Department of Education
More information on the grant can be found at ODE - Perkins V.
-
CTE Teacher Licensure in the MWEC Region
If you are, or plan to be, a CTE teacher in the MWEC region (all public high schools in Marion, Polk, Yamhill, and Lincoln Counties, except schools in Salem-Keizer) you will need to go through the MWEC office to obtain/renew your license.
General CTE Teacher licensure information on the ODE website.
Need more information or ready to start the licensure process? Contact Debbie Johnson and she can help guide you through the process.