We are a team of dedicated educators who have been working together to build a new Undergraduate College (UGC) at National Louis University (NLU) focused on building academic pathways and providing holistic student support to ensure students are successfully employed in a field of their choice upon graduation. We believe we are not successful unless students achieve sustainable employment and experience economic mobility associated with their educational investment. Our undergraduate majors serve first-time freshmen and adult and transfer students in blended and online delivery formats – on and off campus.

We work fearlessly to educate and retain our students – but we know this is not enough. Accordingly, we measure our success by their ability to achieve meaningful, sustainable employment upon graduation from NLU. As a result, we have exceeded national benchmarks through our approach to appreciative advising and data-driven, personalized instruction. Our educational model is student-focused, professionally focused, expects excellence, and provides personalized support in a data-driven environment. These key tenets are grounded by continuous improvement and innovation pillars for quality growth and development.

Early Childhood and Elementary Education is a continuously evolving and growing field offering extensive career opportunities in today’s and tomorrow’s economy, and it is thus a high-priority program of study for NLU. We seek an outstanding Early Childhood/Elementary Education faculty member to join our growing Undergraduate College team.

You will: Offer Best-in-Class Teaching and Learning.

You will teach 7-8 courses during the Academic Year. You believe that your work has demonstrated your respect for education and its power. Each term, you will facilitate blended and online classes that utilize technology and data to drive instruction. You will work with a dedicated faculty team, success coaches/advisors, career advisors, employer relations managers, and data analysts to determine how to personalize the learning experience for your students. In addition to teaching content, you will support students with meeting the professional goals that they have for themselves while celebrating the lived experiences they bring to the classroom, focusing on a growth mindset, increasing non-cognitive skill development, and nurturing academic confidence.

You are ready to: Make an Impact.

Each and every day, our Undergraduate College changes lives. You want to be a part of that meaningful innovation. You are someone that will always look for creative ways for students to achieve success. We know this work is challenging, but we are in it together. Student mastery of learning outcomes, persistence to graduation, and employment are our top key performance indicators and our shared responsibility in the Undergraduate College, and your work will empower students to achieve these outcomes.

CORE VALUES

• Student-Focused: Make decisions based on what is best for students with the belief that when all students have access to resources and support, they are empowered to succeed.
• Expect Excellence: Maintain high expectations for our students and for the faculty that teach in the program by holding ourselves accountable for achieving excellence.
• Personalized Support: Take a holistic approach to providing individualized support that encourages students to realize their full potential in college and beyond. Connect students with their career interests and provide opportunities to engage in professional environments.
• Data-Driven, Collaborative Environment: Collaborate with faculty and coaches to utilize real-time data and technology to adapt instruction to student needs.
• Continuous Improvement and Innovation: Remain agile and open to changes and new ideas-incorporating data as well as student, faculty and administration voice-to ensure that we are continuously learning, improving, and innovating in all aspects of curriculum, instruction and the student experience.

Teaching

Demonstrate excellence in teaching:

• Teach courses as assigned, 7-8 per year in a blended format in Chicago and Wheeling campuses primarily during the day as well as online.
• Collaborate with Instructional, Success Coaching, and Career Services teams to develop an effective student experience for students.
• Facilitate courses by delivering engaging instruction in a blended, flipped classroom environment.
• Empower students to develop competency by sharing a passion for the subject and skills being taught.
• Teach from a culturally responsive pedagogical framework, infusing the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) Culturally Responsive Teaching and Leading standards into all aspects of teaching—modeling this approach to teacher candidates as they prepare to teach diverse student populations in the field.
• Communicate professionally and relate well.
• Participate in faculty professional development activities.

Service to the Institution

• Contribute to a learning culture by participating on committees, supporting local campus events such as clubs, orientation, and graduation, and participating in various other workshops and meetings.
• Promote the major and career outcomes to internal and external stakeholders in order to achieve recruitment targets, student retention goals, and maintain high graduation rates.

Outreach

Develop External Relationships: For professional content areas, assist the Program Chair and department leadership in identifying and developing partnerships with relevant external organizations (schools/districts, relevant non-profit organizations, and professional associations) to support continuous review and improvement of course content to align with industry standards, and to support creation of meaningful field placements for teacher candidates.

REQUIREMENTS

• Minimum of three years of teaching in an Early Childhood and/or Elementary classroom, with demonstrated success in the development of literacy and ELA instruction;
• Preferred: Demonstrated record of teaching excellence in a university or college setting;
• Demonstrated ability to work with racially, culturally and economically diverse colleagues and students;
• Commitment to student success, student professional growth, effective professional advising, and experiential education;
• Experience using data for improvement purposes;
• Evidence of engagement and service to the field; and
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Bilingual in English/Spanish preferred

EDUCATION

• Master’s degree in in Early Childhood and/or Elementary Education;
• Subsequent endorsement in ESL/Bilingual Education or English as an Additional Language; and
• Credentialing, endorsement, or advanced training in early literacy, English Language Arts instruction or related field.

NLU Inclusion Statement:

National Louis University is deeply committed to serving its community, advancing access and equity, and ensuring that all individuals are welcomed and valued. We are dedicated to fostering a culture where diversity, equity, and inclusion remain at the core of who we are. These are more than just words to us: they are truly a way of life for the NLU community. We recognize that differences in age, race, gender (identity and expression), nationality, sexual orientation, physical and intellectual ability, and background bring richness to our work environment. We affirm diverse perspectives, innovative contributions, and authentic presentations of self from every member within the NLU community. We believe inclusion is grounded in the actions we intentionally take each day. Our goal is to inspire and empower NLU employees and community members to cultivate an environment where we collectively focus on uplifting and advancing our institutional culture.