User:Ashley Kincaid/Future Educators Association

The Future Educators Association® (FEA), sponsored by Phi Delta Kappa International (PDK), is a professional organization that supports junior high/middle school, high school, and college students who are interested in education-related careers. Through affiliation with local chapters that are registered with the international FEA office, prospective educators have access to scholarship opportunities, as well as age-appropriate materials and activities that help them gain a realistic understanding of the nature of education and the role of the teacher. As the only national precollegiate program for prospective teachers, the goal of the Future Educators Association (FEA) is to provide students with opportunities to explore their interest in careers in education.

The FEA international headquarters are located in Bloomington, Indiana.

Membership
Currently, FEA’s network includes active chapters in 47 states and Department of Defense schools in Cuba, Germany, Italy and Japan. FEA also exists on some college campuses. A list of our current chapters by state and country is available online at www.futureeducators.org.

Also, FEA has formal, statewide programs in Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. Many of these state-level programs stage student conferences and professional development opportunities for FEA advisors in addition to what the international program offers.

Mission, Vision, and Tagline
Mission of FEA: The mission of FEA is to foster the recruitment and development of prospective educators worldwide through the dissemination of innovative programming and relevant research.

Vision of FEA: By elevating the image of teaching, FEA will attract dynamic and diverse students who will become tomorrow’s great educators.

FEA tagline: FEA—A classroom is waiting…

History & Governance
During the first half of the last century, the National Education Association initiated a Future Teachers of America program. Local chapters of that program still exist in a number of states. Similar efforts were also made by various state departments of education, many local schools, and, most notably, by Jan Towslee. As president of the Association of Teacher Educators, Towslee made the development of the Future Educators of America a priority. In 1994, Phi Delta Kappa International took the lead on FEA and provided it with an international headquarters. In 2005, PDK changed the name to Future Educators Association to more accurately reflect the international nature of the organization. Currently, FEA is governed by the PDK International Board, which is comprised of 13 individuals elected by PDK’s professional membership.

Ten national education organizations have supported the development of the FEA program for a number of years. This group includes the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, American Federation of Teachers, Association of Teacher Educators, Council of Chief State School Officers, National Education Association, National Alliance of Black School Educators, National Association of Elementary School Principals, National Association of Secondary School Principals, National Middle School Association, and the National School Boards Association.