Walter Taylor, NBCT (National Board Certified Teacher) is the Director of Professional Development (PD) for the Chicago Teachers Union Foundation (CTUF) Quest Center and is responsible for the strategic planning, development, and implementation of professional learning opportunities for educators. Walter brings over 13 years of teaching science, language arts and special education in Chicago Public Schools (CPS), over 11 years of facilitating PD for public education teachers through the CTUF’s Quest Center and the Golden Apple Foundation (GAF) and over 24 years of curriculum development experience with CPS, CTUF and the GAF. Mr. Taylor is also a mentor for the GAF and a professor at National Louis University in their Education Department. In addition to designing and teaching curricula to pre-service teachers and classroom teachers for the GAF and the CTUF, Walter provides graduate-level PD to teachers. His signature PD offerings and programs include Restorative Practices, Differentiated Instruction, Questioning and Discussion Techniques, Cultural Competency, Culturally Responsive Pedagogy, Critical Race Theory, Classroom Management, Managing and Monitoring Student Learning, and Student Engagement. Mr. Taylor has done extensive work with restorative practices. He works with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the AFT Congressional Black Caucus in many capacities (esp., restorative practices) which has led him to travel many places both domestically and internationally. Walter has done restorative practices PD in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Trinidad and Tobago, and Mexico City – to name a few.

Session: Culturally Responsive Teaching: Understanding and Incorporating the New ISBE Culturally Responsive Teaching and Leading Standards and connection to EQ/SEL