CPS awards Quest Center’s Nurturing Teacher Leadership program $190,750 to support National Board Certification programming for the 2011/12 school year
CHICAGO - The Chicago Teachers Union’s Quest Center has been awarded nearly $200,000 from the Chicago Public Schools to provide professional development and National Board Certification (NBC) candidate support for teachers pursuing advanced certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.
This funding, from federal Title II funds, will help to support first-time and retake NBC candidates via on-call, in person, and virtual mentorship; weekly course work and cohort facilitation; a summer institute; a professional development weekend retreat; Assessment Center simulations; a professional library; and, teacher leadership training.
“The Quest Center is one of the leading professional development providers for teachers in the country; and our Nurturing Teacher Leadership (NTL) program is one of the longest running and most successful National Board Certification candidate support programs in the nation, ” said Karen GJ Lewis, Union president and National Board Certified Teacher. “We are pleased that CPS recognizes this by awarding funding to provide the necessary support to keep the NTL ’s achievement rate at twice the national average, so that more CPS teachers meet the standards necessary to achieve National Board Certification.”
The Nurturing Teacher Leadership program in its 14th year, credits much of its 96 percent success rate (twice the national average) to its cognitive coaching model, team facilitation approach, technology access, and differentiated candidate support.
Nurturing Teacher Leadership begins recruitment for the following school year’s cohort on the 14th of November. For more information about National Board Certification, Nurturing Teacher Leadership enrollment, or other CTU Quest Center Professional Development opportunities, contact Lynn Cherkasky-Davis, at LynnCherkasky-Davis@ctulocal1.com.
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The Chicago Teachers Union Quest Center was launched in 1992 with the assistance of a generous grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Its mission is to build and sustain a community of Union professionals by providing continuous professional learning opportunities that enhance members’ knowledge and skills in “best practice;” to foster staff effectiveness in implementing comprehensive school reform; and, to nurture teacher leadership in order to improve student performance.
The Chicago Teachers Union represents 30,000 teachers and educational support personnel working in the Chicago Public Schools and, by extension, the students and families they serve. CTU, an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers and the Illinois Federation of Teachers, is the third largest teachers local in the country and the largest local union in Illinois. For more information visit CTU’s website at www.ctunet.com.
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