II. Obtaining a First Illinois Professional Certificate

To obtain a first professional certificate, an applicant must complete an approved teacher education program, either in Illinois or in another state. For Illinois students, an approved program requires the student to be admitted to a teacher education program for the certificate type and subject area of the student's interest at an Illinois institution that has been approved by the State Superintendent of Education and the State Board of Education. The student follows the program requirements and the university recommends the student for the certificate upon its determination that the student has completed all program requirements.

Persons from other states may demonstrate they have met the requirement by presenting either a valid certificate from another state that is comparable to the type they seek in Illinois or by presenting a State-Approved Program Verification form (ISBE 73-05) signed by the recommending institution's designated authority and bearing the college seal that shows the student is prepared for the same type of certificate sought in Illinois.

Certification Programs

Certification by Completing an Approved Program (Entitlement) and Certification by Transcript Evaluation

Completion of a traditional Illinois-approved program requires students to attend a college or university that prepares teachers in the grade level and content area of the student's interest. The institution must have its programs for preparing teachers approved by the State Teacher Certification Board. When students have followed the program successfully and passed the required examinations, they are deemed to be qualified for an Illinois certificate, if all non-educational requirements have also been met.

Students who wish to complete an approved program are required to pass the Illinois test of Basic Skills prior to entry to the program, and they are required to pass a content test relating to their program subject area. Finally students must also pass the Assessment of Professional Teaching required for the grade level of the certificate they desire.

If students have no criminal convictions or other factors in their backgrounds that would bar them from certification and if they have met all other requirements, certificates are issued when the students file an application and the required fee.

In addition to the traditional education program, Illinois has established alternative processes for persons who already have a bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited institution and five years' experience in the area of their degrees. These programs expedite training compared to the traditional route. At present Illinois has three different alternative program types: the alternative certification program, the alternative route program, and the resident teacher program. All these programs require completion of the basic skills and content-area tests before the first certificate is issued to the students.

Alternative program graduates complete certification in a two step process.

1. Students who complete an alternative certification program or an alternative route program first obtain a provisional alternative certificate valid for one year for the grade level of the program.
   • Applicants use the Alternative Certification Application form (ISBE 73-01) furnished by the entitlement college to obtain this certificate. Both the alternative route and alternative certification programs require teachers to obtain employment in a school district for a year using the provisional alternative certificate during which time they are treated as a fully qualified teacher and provided with mentoring and professional development. At the end of the year, the students' performance is assessed AND
     
     
2. If the experience is considered successful:
   • The students in the alternative certification program obtain the second certificate, the Initial Alternative Certificate using application form ISBE 73-01 upon recommendation by the institution.
   • Likewise, the students in the alternative route program are assessed and, if the assessment is successful, they obtain an Initial Teaching Certificate using application form ISBE 73-03C upon recommendation by the institution.

Students in resident teacher programs obtain a Resident Teacher Certificate valid for four years for the grade level and subject of the program completed. They apply on form ISBE 73-03C. At the end of the four years during which the students undergo mentoring under the direction of a teacher (resident teachers may not teach in place of a certified teacher), the students who complete all requirements will be recommended for a Standard Certificate by their university when they receive a master's degree.

Transcript Evaluation

Transcript evaluation is available only to persons who either have completed an approved program in another state or who hold another state's certificate comparable to the certificate they seek in Illinois. Applicants submit their application and official transcripts to the Illinois State Board of Education where the staff reviews the application, the applicant's courses and previous teaching experience to determine if the applicant meets minimum requirements for a certificate.

All persons applying for subsequent certificates after December 31, 2004, will be required to attend an Illinois college offering an approved program for the certificates they seek. Universities can develop focused programs for these persons by evaluating work previously done by the applicants and require only additional work that will allow the students to meet the standards for the new certificate and subject.

Transcript evaluation will continue to be available for certificates that do not require prior training in education, such as substitute certificates, provisional vocational certificates, transitional bilingual certificates, and others. Individuals who wish to obtain a certificate through transcript evaluation must complete an application for the certificate, either the paper 73-03C form or the electronic application on our On-Line Teacher Information System (OTIS) at http://www.isbe.net/otis/default.htm.

Application Background Questions

The application you complete for the certificate has several questions requiring that you respond "yes" or "no." See the following list.

Individuals who answer in the affirmative to any of these queries must provide a detailed explanation of the situation. These cases will invariably result in some delay in determining the certification status of the applicant.

Certificate Denial, Suspension or Revocation

A certificate denial, suspension or revocation should be explained in detail including the state where the action took place, the date, the reasons for the action, any penalties imposed and the date any penalty is lifted. ISBE will contact the state's education department for verification of the information.

Certification for Persons Who Have Been Convicted of a Crime

Unless you have been convicted of first degree murder, attempted first degree murder, a Class X felony or certain enumerated narcotics and sex offenses, you may be able to obtain an Illinois certificate. Each application is reviewed on its own merits with attention paid to evidence of good character and rehabilitation in light of the nature of the offense. There are specific rules involved in these cases:

1. At least one year must have elapsed from the termination of sentence, including any incarceration or probation.
2. You must provide a statement in your own words describing the circumstances of the crime.
3. You must provide a certified copy of the court record of conviction.
4. You must provide original statements attesting to your good character and rehabilitation. These statements must come from employers (including current employers, if applicable), civic leaders, college instructors and others who have knowledge of the conviction and who are in a position to attest to your good character and rehabilitation.  Letters written by relatives are not acceptable and will not be considered.  Likewise, letters that do not indicate the author's knowledge of the offense in question will not be considered. 

These documents will be reviewed. A determination of whether to issue a certificate will be made on the basis of the degree to which the evidence of good character and rehabilitation outweighs the offense. You should also note that each school district is required to do a fingerprint-based criminal background check on every employee. Districts cannot hire individuals who have been convicted of certain offenses.

Tax Problems

Tax problems with the Illinois Department of Revenue require

1. A detailed explanation including the tax year,
2. The amount owed and
3. The status of any disputed amount.
4. Resolved disputes require that the applicant forward a tax clearance form from the Department.

Child Abuse and Neglect

Persons who answered "yes" in this category need to provide

1. A detailed explanation of their relationship with the child,
2. The child's age and sex,
3. The DCFS report number and date,
4. The status of the report (indicated, unfounded, undetermined).
5. A detailed account of the circumstances,
6. An official copy of the report, and
7. The status of any request to expunge, amend or remove the record.

Student Loan Defaults

Affirmative responses require that the applicant provide proof of an arrangement to repay the student loan that is satisfactory to the loaning agent.

Certification for Individuals Educated in Foreign Countries

Applicants who have received their teacher education in a foreign country must have their transcripts reviewed by one of the private evaluation services listed on our website before we can evaluate their transcripts. These organizations will convert foreign credentials into equivalent American courses and semester credits and determine the equivalence of your credentials to an American degree.

By state law, applicants must have a bachelor's degree and 120 semester hours of college credit for any of the professional certificates. A bachelor's degree means the equivalent of a United States bachelor's degree. Many foreign countries grant bachelor's degrees after only fourteen years of elementary, secondary and college education; these degrees are not equivalent to United States degrees. Persons with such backgrounds will need to attend an Illinois college, complete an approved teacher education program and receive another bachelor's degree. If applicants' teacher training occurred during their high school experience or at a lower level, they will not be able to be certificated in Illinois unless they attend an Illinois college and complete a state-approved teacher education program.

Applicants must use one of the services listed; we will not accept evaluations completed by other sources. The evaluation must be a detailed evaluation, listing each course completed with its semester hours and including a statement of degree equivalence. Applicants may forward copies of the original foreign language documents made from the original and so certified by the regional superintendent, but the original foreign credentials evaluation must be sent to this office.

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