Columbia School of English Information

The Columbia Education Center (CEC) is a private educational service organization based in Portland, Oregon. It was established in 1972 for the purpose of providing specialized services and resources to schools and education-related organizations in the Pacific Northwest. Since 1990, CEC has become increasingly involved with agencies in other parts of the United States and in several nations overseas. CEC is incorporated as an Oregon non-profit organization and has been granted not-for-profit status by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (#23-7448442). While its range of activities is varied, CEC's principal efforts are directed toward communication, dissemination, and staff development projects, frequently those supported financially by federal and private grant programs. During the past years, CEC has designed and successfully conducted staff training, curriculum development, dissemination, and networking projects supported by: U.S. Department of Education National Science Foundation National Endowment for the Humanities Commission on the Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution Environmental Protection Agency Northwest Area Foundation The largest of CEC's current grants is a $7.5 million dollar award from the U.S. Department of Education's Dwight D. Eisenhower Regional Consortia for Mathematics and Science Education. These funds underwrite 80% of a technical assistance and dissemination project serving Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Montana, and Washington. Named the Science and Mathematics Consortium for Northwest Schools (SMCNWS), this project coordinates efforts to identify exemplary science and math resources, services, programs, and practices with the current and emerging needs and priorities of the Northwest's educational community. CEC enjoys the active counsel of a regional Advisory made up of persons representing all sectors of the Northwest's educational community. In addition, a national group of volunteer Dissemination Associates serves as a two-way "pipeline" between CEC and schools and educators in all ...