Dean of the National College of Education
Alison Hilsabeck, Ph.D., has served as Dean of the National College of Education (NCE) at National Louis University since 2005. Under her leadership the 125-year-old college, founded by pioneering women educators to train teachers in immigrant communities, has pursued an agenda of innovation in teacher and school leader preparation vital for meeting the evolving demands of American education.
Dr. Hilsabeck leads one of the state of Illinois’ largest and most established colleges of education, one which serves more than 5000 students each year in programs from the baccalaureate through doctoral levels. NCE ranks first in the state for the number of graduate degrees in education conferred and number of African-American master’s degree recipients. NCE alumni have earned 57 Golden Apple Awards – among the most prestigious teacher honors in Illinois – more than any other school of education. The college is widely recognized for its literacy programs (including two faculty members inducted into the International Reading Association’s Hall of Fame), expertise in ESL/Bilingual education, focus on urban schools, and work with Latino and other New American communities.
Recognizing the need to combine resources and competencies with diverse peer organizations to achieve transformative educational goals, Dr. Hilsabeck has brought NCE’s strengths in teacher preparation and the evaluation of teaching effectiveness to a number of signature partnerships. These include a decade long relationship with the nationally acclaimed Academy for Urban School Leadership (AUSL), for which NCE serves as degree-granting partner; an exclusive principal-training partnership with the Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP); and degree-granting and research collaborations with Chicago Teaching Fellows, Teach for America and New Leaders for New Schools. Under Dr. Hilsabeck’s leadership, NCE also partnered with the Chicago Public Education Fund to extend national board certification support for teachers in the Chicago Public Schools.
During Dr. Hilsabeck’s administration NCE partnerships have been recognized with more than $60 million in grant funding. NCE is the only institution in the U.S. to partner on two Teacher Quality Partnership grants, one with AUSL to extend urban teacher residency model, and a second to revitalize undergraduate teacher preparation co-developed with University of Illinois-Chicago, Northeastern Illinois University and Loyola University of Chicago.
Dr. Hilsabeck has served her professional peers throughout her 25 years in higher education. She recently completed a term as co-chair of the Council of Chicago Area Deans of Education, which established a shared research agenda focused on improving teacher preparation and works closely on state-wide issues of education policy.
