National Board Certification/ Nurturing Teacher Leadership

Nurturing Teacher Leadership, established in 1997, is the Chicago Teachers Union/Chicago Public Schools 2-year program of professional development and candidate support that prepares Chicago Public School teachers for National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) certification, the highest credential a teacher can earn.

Nurturing Teacher Leadership has a success rate of more than 94%, twice the national average!

Learn more by attending our next Informational Meeting for the 2019/2021 Cohort!

Congratulations to our new National Board Certified Teachers

Class of 2018

As the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) went from a one year process to a two-year process we announce that 14 CTU members have earned our profession’s highest mark of achievement – NATIONAL BOARD CERTIFICATION. 115 NBCTs have also Renewed their NBC credential. These teachers/librarians/school counselors join a growing community of National Board Certified Teachers, now more than 122,000 strong across all 50 states. Chicago has produced more than 2,260 of them. Each of these accomplished educators earned the profession’s highest mark of achievement through a rigorous, performance-based, peer-review process, demonstrating their proven impact on student learning and achievement. This is a great personal accomplishment, but it’s more than that–this accomplishment is reason to celebrate the impact Board Certified teachers have on millions of students nationwide and on the teaching profession at-large. The certification process impacts teaching and learning well beyond an individual teacher’s classroom. Teaching to the highest standards, NBCTs impact students every day: leading from their classrooms, mentoring colleagues, facilitating and directing school, district, and union initiatives, and working in higher education and professional associations to advocate for strong policy and practice.

The following National Board Certified Teachers have dedicated 2 years to the CTU’s rigorous Nurturing Teacher Leadership professional development and candidate support program during which time they analyzed, reflected on and refined their teaching practice and content knowledge, while demonstrating their mastery of the standards from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards that encompass their certificate. According to Peggy Brookins, NBCT, President of NBPTS, “National Board Certification is about helping teachers become great, it is about elevating the teaching profession, and it is about helping children achieve at higher rates.” A decade of research shows the impact of Board Certified teachers is even greater for low income and minority students.

For teachers, school counselors, and librarians who want more information on how to become National Board Certified earn the annual CPS stipend and advance on the salary scale (at no cost) please go to CTUF.org/NTL to register for the next NBC recruitment meeting or contact Lynn Cherkasky-Davis at 312 329 6274 or LynnCherkasky-Davis@ctuf.org.

Lisa Anderson – Exceptional Needs Specialist

Menyett Baker – School Counseling

Heather Dunfee – Exceptional Needs Specialist

Anna Garcia Deters— Exceptional Needs Specialist

Neil Farlow – Exceptional Needs Specialist

Jessica General – Exceptional Needs Specialist

Justin Huang – Adolescent and Young Adulthood Mathematics

Jennifer Jones – Early Childhood Generalist

Heather Morrison – Exceptional Needs Specialist

Rachael Nicholas – Adolescent and Young Adulthood Social Studies/History

Elizabeth O’Keefe – Adolescent and Young Adulthood Math

Lorraine Platek – Early Adolescent Mathematics