State Board of Education grants provisional approval of new teacher preparation programs

The State Board of Education today provisionally approved new teacher preparation programs at Concordia University and Illinois State University based on recommendations issued by the State Teacher Certification Board. The new programs respond to high-priority staffing needs in Illinois schools. Provisional approval allows an institution to conduct the program and recommend candidates for certification until its next-scheduled five-year review.

Concordia University, in collaboration with Elmhurst College, St. Xavier University, the Associated Colleges of Illinois and the Golden Apple Foundation, had proposed an alternative certification program that will prepare candidates to teach mathematics or science at the secondary level. The program, “Transition to Teaching,” requires a candidate to complete 36 semester hours over a period of 14 months. It is intended to target high-quality specialists in subjects for which shortages exist and may expand to include other secondary areas as shortages are identified.

Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois, had proposed a graduate-level program that will allow candidates to earn a special education certificate endorsed in Learning Behavior Specialist II (LBS II). Three types of designations will be offered in LBS II: deaf-blind specialist, multiple disabilities specialist, and transition specialist.