Nurturing Teacher Leadership (NTL), established in 1997, is the Chicago Teachers Union/Chicago Public Schools 2 year program of FREE professional development and candidate support that prepares Chicago Public School teachers, counselors, and librarians for National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) certification, the highest credential a teacher or counselor can earn.
Honoring the 2022 Class of National Board Certified Teachers at the Honoring Excellence section of the 3/22/23 CPS Board Meeting
Nurturing Teacher Leadership has a success rate of more than 90%, significantly higher than the
Illinois state and national average of 70%.
Chicago boasts 49 new National Board Certified Teachers, 45 percent who are teachers of color, and ranks third in the nation for the highest number of NBCTs in any district. Congratulations to all our new and renewing NBCTs for meeting the highest standards of our profession.
NBCT educator Laura Nunn says the process of becoming a National Board Certified Teacher (NBCT) was the most collaborative, valuable and pertinent professional development of her career.
NBCT exceptional needs specialist Jasmine Anderson-Cruthird says achieving National Board Certification was her pathway to becoming her best teacher self for her Black and Brown students.
NBCT social studies teacher Vince Vinluan discovered how stories of the past serve as a tool for understanding the present on his journey to National Board Certification.
CTU honors new class of National Board Certified Teachers, 45 percent who are teachers of color
CPS ranks 3rd in nation for highest number of NBCTs in any district.
Chicago boasts 49 new National Board Certified Teachers, 45 percent who are teachers of color, and ranks third in the nation for the highest number of NBCTs in any district. The 49 new NBCTs received their advanced certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards in December and an additional 103 NBCTs renewed their NBCT credentials.
Since its inception, the CTU/CPS partnership has produced more than 2,430 NBCTs. Each of these accomplished teachers earned or maintained the profession’s highest mark of achievement through a rigorous, performance based, peer-review process, demonstrating their proven impact on teacher quality and student learning and achievement.
With this year’s additional 49 NBCTs, teachers of color now make up 39 percent of the district’s NBCTs and CTU continues to encourage more teachers of color to pursue this highest professional certification.
CTU President Stacy Davis Gates honored the new and renewing NBCTs.
“Our fight forward is more than just one about changing the leadership in city hall, it is also about ensuring that our students have the most highly accomplished teachers and counselors.” CTU Vice President Stacy Davis-Gates said. “Representation matters, especially in Chicago’s classrooms. Our Nurturing Teacher Leadership professional development program is aimed at preparing candidates for National Board Certification. It is our belief that students greatly benefit from having highly accomplished teachers that reflect the communities they serve.”
Through “NBC Chicago,” a partnership between the CTU and CPS, the CTU Foundation Quest Center’s Nurturing Teacher Leadership (NTL) program provides professional development, candidate support and mentoring for CPS teachers, counselors and librarians pursuing this advanced certification. The district funds the programming, as well as an annual pensionable stipend, for all CPS teachers who take the journey to National Board Certification.
The partnership and professional development program is codified in the CTU/CPS collective bargaining agreement. NTL’s achievement rate is 94 percent, compared to the national average of around 70 percent.
Other Meaningful Metrics
Every CPS network boasts at least one NBCT.
346 schools have NBCTs on staff.
249 Title 1 schools have NBCTs on staff
CPS NBCTs receive a $2,295+ annual stipend
17 percent of the new class of NBCTs are STEM teachers
15 percent of new NBCTS are Diverse Learner (Exceptional Needs) teachers
In addition to teaching and counseling, our NBCTs have worked in district and union leadership positions, including principals and assistant principals, network chiefs of schools, CPS and CTU project and program managers and directors, as well as the CPS executive director of educator effectiveness, and CTU President Emerita Karen Lewis.
Middle Childhood Generalist mentors Kathy Barabasz, Shauna Edgar, Kathy Kriston, and Tina Franklin-Bertrand
“The National Board Certification (NBC) process, has provided me the extraordinary opportunity to transform my teaching practice through the Nurturing Teacher Leadership (NTL) candidate support program. I am privileged to be a teacher at a public CPS high school in Little Village and a National Board Certified Teacher. I firmly believe that quality professional development (PD) creates educators who are attuned to research-based practices which drive highly effective classroom instruction. Educational research in the areas of classroom management, school development, childhood development, instructional practices, curriculum development, and assessment expands daily. Teachers must have the opportunities to engage with this knowledge and apply these skills within their own teaching context. This is what my experience with the CTU/CPS NBC program has enabled me to do. I have attended countless PD activities from many different agencies, on top of receiving my graduate degree and endorsement as a transition specialist.
The PD through the NTL program, coupled with candidate mentoring and cohort facilitation through the Quest Center, has exceeded all of these in the amount of knowledge received, opportunities to share experiences with colleagues, support for the implementation of practices that meet high standards, and opportunities to reflect upon and improve my practice. I have grown as an effective educator more through the NBC process than through all other PDs combined. The effect it has had on my students’ achievement is unquestionable. In the year I achieved certification alone my students averaged .5 years of growth in reading, more than in any previous years. All because I was a better teacher. Overall, student growth on interim and performance-based exams also increased. Personally, I improved my organization, efficiency, and relationship with parents. I cannot express enough how essential this program is to the development of teachers throughout the district. I see the proof in myself, in my students, and I the teachers within my building that have also become National Board Certified. I am grateful for Bargaining Agreement Article 44.27 in which CTU and CPS partner to bring NBC to all district teachers, librarians, and school counselors. The achievement gap cannot be reduced without teachers who are supported and given quality opportunities to grow within their profession. Thank you for this opportunity you provided me as a National Board Candidate, as well as the opportunities I have been afforded since becoming National Board Certified.” – Jennifer Rocque, NBCT, Exceptional Needs Specialist
“Nothing in my entire training and experience as a teacher has pushed me harder to be a better teacher than Nurturing Teacher Leadership/ National Board Certification support. NTL’s NBC candidate support program is the real deal. If you are ready, peer into the dark corners of your teaching practice and make the changes that your students really need from you.” – Ira Abrams – Adolescent and Young Adulthood English Language Arts candidate
“NTL has provided me with a wonderful learning community within my English Language Arts cohort. Since candidates in my certificate area are from schools all over the city, I have applied what I have learned from their diverse experiences and perspectives to grow in awareness of my own students’ needs and my ability to provide equitable learning experiences to each child. Even after this program is over, I know I will still have a network of teachers there to support me and help me grow.” – Deirdre Littleton, NBCT – Early Adolescent English Language Arts
“I am so happy to be a part of such a wonderful group of educators. I have learned so much not only from my wonderfully supportive and knowledgeable mentors but also from my fellow teachers. We have been able to share ideas in a respected, collaborative space, and I feel like my teaching has already improved since our Summer Institute began in August. Although I know the hardest work is still ahead, I am looking forward to continuing my learning and will remind myself to TRUST THE PROCESS because I know I am in good hands.” – Katherine Young – Early Childhood Generalist candidate
Our contract provides more than $2200 annual pensionable STIPEND for all National Board Certified Teachers, librarians, and counselors (going up to $2295 by the end of the contract).
Our 2-year National Board Certification support program (Nurturing Teacher Leadership) is FREE to CTU members.
You can earn a Master’s Degree and/or graduate credit while going through the NBC process.
You can move to Lane 5 on the CPS pay scale during the program.
You earn an ISBE National Board Certification Endorsement on your Professional Educator License – and all the PD Hours you need for your entire re-licensure cycle. And every cycle thereafter National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs) only have to complete half the required ISBE PD hours.
CNA research indicates that students of NBCTs gain 1 to 2 months of additional learning compared to their peers in other classrooms. The positive impact of having an NBCT is even greater for students of color and low-income students.
Paid teacher leadership roles increase after attaining National Board Certification.
Research from the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research shows that CPS NBCTs score higher on their REACH ratings than non NBCTs.
CTU manages all National Board Certification programming for CPS.
More than 2,400 CPS teachers, counselors, and librarians have achieved National Board Certification – earning us the status of being the district with the 3rd largest number of NBCTs in the nation.
YOUR STUDENTS ARE THE BENEFICIARIES OF YOUR PROFESSIONAL LEARNING!
