The North Dakota Council of Administrative Women in Education (NDCAWE) was founded in 1923 at a meeting of the North Dakota Educational Association. Membership consisted of women educators in North Dakota who held executive positions. The purpose of the Council was to strengthen professional relationships among administrative women, to help maintain high professional standards among women, to work towards the advancement of education in North Dakota and recognize outstanding achievements by women educators. An early custom of the group was an annual award presentation to an outstanding North Dakota woman educator. Named the Administrative Women's Award, the first award was given in 1936 to Clara Richards of Fargo. On February 17, 1949, the NDCAWE formally joined the National Council of Administrative Women in Education (NCAWE).

Although disbanded for a time in the 1970s, the North Dakota Council of Administrative Women in Education was revived in 1980 and became part of the North Dakota Council of School Administrators.