PAMS was chartered in 1973 by Feland L. Meadows, Ph.D., a Montessori Instructor; Joan B. Meadows, a Language Therapist; Elisabeth Caspari, Ed.D., an International Montessori Teacher Educator and Charles Caspari, an Engineer, Mathematician and Linguist to establish Montessori Teacher Education Programs and to provide International Certification for their graduates.  The organization has stayed purposely small with a lean leadership team located across several countries and was established as a non-stock, non-membership, non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation “organized exclusively for charitable,  educational, scientific and literary purposes” so that the energies of the organization could be focused upon teacher education, research and advocacy rather than on developing a large trade institution.

The Society has been led by Dr. Feland L. Meadows as President since its founding in 1973 with a leadership team who have been associated with PAMS for 20 years. The leadership team is composed of: Joan B. Meadows, Secretary, Sibley M. Meadows de Alkon (Mexico), Alexandra Franco de Oller (Costa Rica), Warren McPherson, (Georgia), Bethany B. Vickers, (Illinois) and Rebecca Keith, (California).

PAMS is one of the founders of the Montessori Accreditation Council for Teacher Education (MACTE), which is recognized by the U.S.D.E. as the international standard setting and accrediting body for Montessori teacher education. PAMS is also affiliated with a sister society: Montessori Education Programs International (MEPI) in South Carolina.  Together these two societies nominate a candidate to serve on the MACTE Commission on Accreditation.  PAMS is also associated with the Caspari Montessori Institute International, founded in memory of Dr. Elisabeth Caspari in Montana.

PAMS primary focus is the continuous investment in: 1) Teacher Education Programs that prepare Montessori master teachers, school administrators, classroom teacher/guides, and instructional assistants; 2) research whose findings confirm and are appropriate to update and refine the Montessori System of Education; 3) advocating for the recognition of Montessori Teacher Education by state and national authorities; and 4) establishing standards and criteria for its affiliated teacher education centers and schools.

PAMS is an international society that has conducted a great deal of research in the development of superior Montessori Language Arts programs in English, Spanish, French, Chinese and Hebrew.  PAMS has made teacher education programs and all of its manuals available to candidates who speak those languages in the U.S., Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Israel, France and Switzerland.