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News Release
at The Chicago Public Education Fund
Amy L. Kruss, Director of Development
& Communications
(312) 558-4503
January 16, 2007
National-Louis University
to receive $280,000 for program to recruit and support new
National Board Certified Teachers
CHICAGO–
On the heels of Chicago’s record number of more than
170 new National Board Certified Teachers – announced
in early January – a new program is being launched to
support more teachers through the rigorous certification process.
With a $280,000 investment from The Chicago Public Education
Fund (The Fund), a venture capital fund for public education,
National-Louis University will develop and launch a joint
Master of Education/National Board Certification program,
a first-of-its-kind for Chicago. .
The National-Louis University program will add to a growing
number of universities nationwide looking to create greater
alignment in advanced degrees in teaching with National Board
Certification. The university will modify its existing Interdisciplinary
Studies Master’s degree program starting in April 2007,
which currently serves 80 to 120 Chicago teachers per year,
to integrate the practices and requirements of National Board
Certification.
National-Louis University, which serves an estimated 1,700
Chicago teachers annually across all its graduate degree programs
in teaching, will invest nearly $400,000 of its own resources
into the program. “This is not only a new program, it
is the logical next step for our university,” said Richard
Pappas, President of National-Louis University. “We
have historically been a leading model in the country for
teacher preparation and training, and we see National Board
Certification as the ultimate achievement for all our teachers
coming out of National-Louis.”
While other Chicago universities, such
as Roosevelt University and Chicago State University, offer
teachers graduate credits for engaging in the National Board
Certification process, the National-Louis University program
is the first program in the city to fully integrate National
Board Certification into a master’s degree curriculum
and program, effectively making them part of one unified process.
“As a venture philanthropy, we
seed new ideas that have strong people behind them and significant
potential to make a deep impact system-wide,” said Janet
Knupp, Founding President of The Fund, which has allocated
more than $6 million for National Board Certification in Chicago
over the past 7 years. “We saw in partnering with National-Louis
University a tremendous opportunity to get higher education
more deeply involved in this effort, which will help build
the momentum we’ve seen in National Board Certification
and sustain it for the long-haul.”
Mayor Richard M. Daley, Chicago Public
Schools and The Fund jointly set a goal to have 1,200 Chicago
teachers achieve National Board Certification by 2008. To
date, 646 teachers in the district have achieved that distinction
Currently, the Chicago Public Schools
and the Chicago Teachers Union both offer National Board Certification
support programs. This year they are serving more than 350
Chicago teachers preparing to submit certification entries
to the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards
(NBPTS) – the Arlington, VA-based nonprofit that manages
National Board Certification.
“Chicago has been a leader in
National Board Certification among large urban school districts
across the country,” said Joseph Aguerrebere, President
and CEO of NBPTS. “We are pleased to see National-Louis
University add another quality avenue for Chicago teachers
pursuing National Board Certification and fully expect it
to be a national stand-out as well.”
About The Chicago Public Education
Fund
As a venture capital fund for public education, The Chicago
Public Education Fund is an unprecedented catalyst for improving
school leadership and student achievement system wide. Launched
by a group of corporate and civic leaders, The Fund brings
private sector dollars and expertise to high-impact programs
aligned with Chicago Public Schools priorities. Find out more
at www.cpef.org.
About National-Louis University
National-Louis University began as a teacher of teachers;
teaching remains not just the University’s strength,
but its calling. In 1886, founder Elizabeth Harrison took
the idea of early childhood education and built around it
one of the first four-year colleges for teachers. Today, in
the process of educating students, faculty in National College
of Education, College of Arts and Science and College of Management
and Business continue to act on some of the most urgent problems
of our time and our society. They are innovators, animated
by an intense dedication to their students and a commitment
to building more effective and more caring schools, communities
and societies.
About National Board Certification
Teachers pursuing National Board Certification must demonstrate
their teaching knowledge and skills through a series of rigorous
performance-based assessments. These include work samples,
classroom videotapes, subject-area competency exams, and a
thorough analysis of how their students learn over time. The
certification process, managed by the National Board for Professional
Teaching Standards, can take up to three years to complete.
To date, 55,000 teachers nation-wide have achieved certification;
646 Chicago teachers have done so.
# # #
As a venture capital fund for public
education, The Chicago Public Education Fund is an unprecedented
catalyst for improving school leadership and student achievement
system wide. Launched by a group of corporate and civic leaders,
The Fund brings private sector dollars and expertise to high-impact
programs aligned with Chicago Public Schools priorities. Find
out more at www.cpef.org.
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