The Maine Council for English Language Arts was established by Maine state educators in the 1960s as the Maine state affiliate of the National Council of Teachers of English. Today, the organization is a non-profit managed by a volunteer Executive Board of educators in the state of Maine.

The primary purpose of the Council is to assist teachers as they develop and improve their capabilities as effective teachers of English language arts:

1. Conducting at least one state-wide conference each school year
2. Publishing news of interest to the membership and the field of English language arts
3. Identifying and inviting Maine teachers with special qualifications as conference speakers and consultants for other teachers
4. Working to raise professional standards for the education and preparation of teachers of English language arts
5. Working to provide wider opportunities for professional growth
6. Encouraging mindful action based on viable research
7. Developing strategies for improving the teaching of English language arts and literacy skills in Maine schools and instructing teachers on how to use these strategies
8. Aiding in the development, distribution, and use of curricular materials to meet the needs of all Maine students
   

History of the organization:

• Started in the late 1960s as an affiliate of NCTE.
• Originally served k-12 ELA teachers, shifted focus in the 90s to focusing on secondary educators, including middle school, high school, and college. 
• Over the years, the annual conference has been as small as 160 teachers and as large at 600 teachers.
• Maine educators have been the featured presenters at the conferences.
• Stephen King was once an Executive Board Member
• In the 80's the Maine Department of Education joined with MCELA by having the ELA Content Specialist become an Executive Board liaison. The first liaison was Eilene Landry. Morgan Dunton from the DOE served in this capacity from the 2000s to 2022.