National Louis Faculty Member to Lead State Delegation for Summer Teachers Meeting in Nation's Capital

Great teachers are among the nation's best ambassadors for advancing teaching excellence in this country. Dozens of these teachers––National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs)–– will convene on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, July 26, 2011, to provide first-hand perspectives to federal policymakers on the positive effect that board certification and its guiding principles have on students and schools.

National Louis University faculty member Suzanne Martinez has been selected by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) to serve as a State Team Leader for Illinois's delegation of board certified teachers who will participate in Capitol Hill Day, Tuesday, July 26, 2011.

"Working to foster the growth of teaching excellence for our students is a key component of being a National Board Certified Teacher, which is why this trip to Washington is critical," said Martinez, one of 4,692 teachers who have achieved National Board Certification in Illinois "My accomplished teacher colleagues and I have important roles to play beyond what we do in the classroom in shaping the future of our schools and creating the work environments that support high-quality teaching and learning."

"Board certified teachers embody the very essence of what effective teaching means, which is why these discussions with elected officials are so important," said Brian Lewis, NBPTS interim chief executive officer and chief strategy officer. "Board certified teachers like Suzanne tell the real stories of how certification has transformed teaching, schools and students' learning."

Topics NBCTs will discuss with members of Congress and staff include:

-NBPTS has created the definitive standards and assessment process to develop and assess accomplished teaching practice––which is directly tied to student learning and achievement.

-Similar to the performance tests that doctors, accountants and architects must take to achieve certification in their professions, educators who achieve board certification have demonstrated that they meet the highest professional standards in the nation. NBPTS is scheduled to launch the first-ever board certification program for principals in 2012. 

-In the most rigorous and comprehensive study to date about National Board Certification, the highly respected, non-partisan National Research Council found that students taught by NBCTs make higher gains on achievement tests than students taught by other teachers.

-NBPTS provides the only valid and reliable performance-based measure of effective teaching recognized across all 50 states.

-Common Core standards and NBPTS standards provide the linkage between what students are expected to learn and the teaching skills and knowledge necessary for teachers to ensure that students meet—and exceed—the student standards.

Following Capitol Hill Day, NBPTS will launch its 2011 conference in Washington, D.C. With the theme, Reboot!, Teaching Transformed, the conference, which runs through July 30, aims to grow great teaching across the country by featuring town hall meetings, nationally-recognized speakers and peer-group sessions, and a focus on using technology to advance teaching excellence.