Professional Development

Want to earn graduate credit? Check out our elective options for earning 1sh of graduate credit. These courses count as Reading Program electives.

Attend the 2025 SCIRA Summer Renewal Conference & Take the NLU Course

SCIRA Presents:

Valentina Gonzalez – Every Language, Every Learner:
The Heart of Teaching Multilingual Learners

Wednesday, June 18, 2025
8:30 am – 3:00 pm
Holiday Inn Skokie
5300 Touhy Avenue

CLICK HERE FOR THE INFORMATIONAL FLYER

Attend the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center Summer Institute & Take the NLU Course

2025 Summer Institute: Teaching about the Holocaust

Monday – Friday, July 14 – 18, 2025 | 9:00 am-3:00 pm and Tuesday, July 15, 2025 | 6:30 – 8:00 pm

360 N. State Street in Downtown Chicago

CLICK HERE FOR THE INFORMATIONAL FLYER

Affiliations

NLU's Center for Literacy endorses professional development workshops, seminars, and annual institutes organized by affiliated professional associations. Often, NLU Reading faculty create courses in conjunction with the associations' professional development offerings to provide participants with the option to earn graduate credit from NLU.

The Suburban Council of The International Reading Association (SCIRA) is a non-profit organization committed to encouraging, promoting, and supporting literacy in schools, home, and the community. SCIRA offers conferences every quarter. Visit SCIRA’s website for information about the conference topic, speaker(s), and to register.
The Reading Leadership Institute (RLI) provides professional development led by major national speakers and networking opportunities at least three times per year for curriculum directors, coaches, administrators, and other literacy leaders serving schools and districts across Chicagoland. For more information about RLI, please contact Dr. Debbie Gurvitz at debra.gurvitz@nl.edu.
The Howard Area Reading Program (HARP) is a volunteer one-on-one after-school reading program providing support for second and third graders at Oakton Elementary School in Evanston. HARP is a service offered through the Howard and Evanston Community Center of Chicago Metropolitan Family Services. HARP works with NLU Reading Program faculty to plan professional development for its tutors and many tutors are reading program alumni. Anyone interested in volunteering may contact Barbara Kaufman at readtch@gmail.com or 847-274-7779.
The Links, Inc. – West Towns Chapter is a not-for-profit volunteer service organization committed to supporting transformative youth services. The West Towns Chapter has partnered with Lincoln Elementary school in Bellwood to advance the national goal of ensuring students have opportunities to participate in culturally rich activities across multiple disciplines. One of the chapter's most transformational initiatives is the Links C.A.R.E. Reading Program, which offers tutoring support to students in grades K-2 who require extra assistance in literacy. By providing books, field trips, parent literacy workshops, and other enriching experiences, Links C.A.R.E. has significantly contributed to increased reading scores among the students it serves. The Center for Literacy faculty collaborates with this organization and provides professional development and workshops for its tutors, school partners, and parents.

Reading and Language Degree and Endorsement Programs

NLU offers a variety of degree and endorsement programs for licensed teachers interested in gaining expertise to enhance literacy instruction, assessment, and reading programs. Click here to learn more.

Resources

ISEL: The Illinois Snapshots of Early Literacy was designed as a classroom-based assessment to measure the essential literacy skills needed by students to be successful readers. Click on the link for information on ISEL, links to downloadable test materials, and updated norms. ISEL Documentation

Employment Opportunities

Click here for information about NLU’s career tools for job seekers and employers.

Professional Organizations

In addition to affiliations with the Suburban Council of The International Reading Association (SCIRA) and the Reading Leadership Institute (RLI), our faculty are closely involved in the following literacy organizations:

Illinois Reading Council

International Literacy Association

National Council of Teachers of English

Literacy Research Association

Association of Literacy Educators and Researchers