Visiting International Teacher Certificate
School
districts participating in teacher exchange programs and
in other programs that recruit foreign teachers to
teach in their districts may choose to require a Visiting
International Teacher Certificate, valid for three years
and non-renewable, if the district wants to ensure the
employee meets NCLB requirements for highly qualified teachers.
This certificate will be issued for early childhood, elementary,
secondary and special grade levels. To qualify for this
certificate, the district must be certain the teacher
- holds the equivalent of a bachelor's
degree issued in the U.S.;
- has been prepared as a teacher
at the grade level for
which he or she will be employed;
- has adequate content
knowledge in the subject matter to be taught, through
possession of a major in the content
area
to be taught or by passing one or more examinations in
the content area;
- has an adequate command of the
English language; and.
- does not have a criminal history
that would bar the individual from employment as specified
in Section
10-21.9(c) of the School
Code.
To ascertain the degree equivalence, grade-level equivalence
and knowledge of the subject matter, the district may initially
utilize published analyses of foreign education systems from
the National Association of Foreign Student Affairs and from
the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions
Officers. An initial determination of English language competence
may be made through administration of the Nelson-Denny reading
examination requiring a passing score in English equivalent
to grade level 10.7 and an oral proficiency interview in
the English language described by the American Council on
Teachers
of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) with an oral proficiency rating
of 2+. The recruiting district will also provide a description
of the background check done for each teacher and assure
that each teacher had such a review performed with results
indicating
that the applicant has no disqualifying criminal violation
described in the statutes.
The applicant will apply for the
Visiting International Teacher Certificate appropriate
to the grade level or subject matter
to be taught. To provide substantiation of the conclusions
reached by the district in its initial review, the application
and fee must be forwarded with the district's own determination
of the applicant's qualifications and the evaluation of
the applicant's foreign credentials. The foreign credentials
evaluation must be completed by one of the acceptable sources
listed on
the ISBE web site. We also require diplomas, degrees, professional
titles and examination results from the terminal or periodic
examinations required by the applicant's degree-granting
institution, and English language translations of those
documents.
Applicants
for this certificate will not be required to pass the examinations
of the Illinois Certification Testing System.
Those persons who wish to teach their native language will
be considered qualified if the language of instruction
used by the degree-granting institution is the teacher's
native
language.
Individuals wishing to apply for this certificate
must file form ISBE
73-03F, "Application for Visiting
International Teacher Certificate," with the appropriate
regional superintendent of schools. Back to Certification Index
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