Master of Arts in Teaching Program (MAT) The Master of Arts in Teaching Program (MAT) in Secondary Education is designed for aspiring middle and secondary school teachers. Given the projected shortage of secondary school teachers in America’s schools and the recognized quality of the National College of Education programs, successful graduates will have attractive opportunities for employment as secondary school teachers. Individuals with an earned bachelor’s degree in any field other than education are potential candidates. MAT Secondary Education students will typically earn their secondary school teacher certification. Students will then continue coursework for two or three additional quarters and earn their MAT degree.
For more information about the MAT program, please visit the MAT webpage.
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Academy for Urban School Leadership The Academy for Urban School Leadership (AUSL) is a not-for-profit teacher preparation and school management organization program working in partnership with Chicago Public Schools to implement district-wide school transformation initiatives. AUSL's mission is two-pronged:
to improve student achievement in Chicago Public Schools by attracting, training, and retaining highly effective teachers and school leaders; and
to transform chronically failing schools into schools of excellence by opening and managing Renaissance2010 and/or No Child Left Behind Turnaround Schools.
To learn more about the AUSL partnership with NLU, contact Professor Sullivan at ssullivan@nl.edu.
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Chicago Teaching Fellows (CTF) The Chicago Teaching Fellows (CTF) provides a pathway for outstanding individuals to become teachers in Chicago Public Schools and to significantly impact the academic achievement of the city’s children. In this highly-selective alternate certification program, the most exemplary candidates will begin teaching full-time in the fall of 2007, while simultaneously earning their teaching certificates at NLU. Fellows will teach in critical shortage areas, including math, science, Spanish, Chinese, and special education.
For more information about the CTF partnership with NLU, contact Professor Sullivan at ssullivan@nl.edu.
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Teach For America (TFA) Teach For America's (TFA) mission is to enlist our nation's most promising future leaders in the movement to eliminate educational inequality. They accomplish this by building a diverse, highly selective national corps of outstanding recent college graduates—of all academic majors and career interests—who commit two years to teach in urban and rural public schools in our nation's lowest-income communities and become lifelong leaders for expanding educational opportunity.
For more information about the TFA partnership with NLU, contact Professor Karlin at sy.karlin@nl.edu.
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B.A. - M.A.T. Program The B.A.-M.A.T. Program was developed because of the teacher shortage in Illinois, especially at the high school level. The baby boom echo, combined with an increasing retirement rate among active teachers, has led to strong demand for well-trained high school teachers. Illinois has been increasing the content requirements for future high school teachers. It often requires five years for an undergraduate student to double major in a content area (e.g., English) and secondary education. In about the same amount of time, a student in the B.A.-M.A.T. Program can earn a B.A. in the content area, a teaching certificate, and the M.A.T. Many prospective M.A.T. students face delays in starting the M.A.T. program because they lack some of the content-area course prerequisites. Enrollment in the B.A.-M.A.T. would prevent such delays.
For more information on the B.A. - M.A.T. Program, visit our B.A.-M.A.T. FAQs section. Back to the Top ________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Subsequent Certification The NCE Subsequent Certification Program involves candidates who already have an Illinois Teacher Certificate in a Portfolio Development course that has candidates reflecting on their teaching career and why they want to seek new certification; analyzing their past academic and professional knowledge and experience in view of state standards. Based on this reflection and analysis and in conjunction with a review of their portfolio by a faculty team, a professional development plan to fill in gaps and prepare them for an appropriate clinical placement is developed.
