The Illinois State Board of Education is exploring changes to expand the grade range of elementary education endorsement from Grades 1 through 6 to kindergarten through Grade 6.
The potential change is in response to district concerns related to difficulty assigning properly licensed teachers to kindergarten positions. It may provide districts with a larger pool of qualified applicants, which could reduce district reliance on substitute teachers or other means of temporarily assigning educators to kindergarten roles due to lack of qualified teachers.
Beginning in June 2025, ISBE began meeting with stakeholders including practicing district and building leaders, higher education faculty, and education advocates, among others to discuss potential implications for grade band changes. In these deliberations, three core principles emerged to ground any potential changes:
- Child-centered focus
- Honoring teacher-child-family-community relationships
- Inclusive of developmentally appropriate pedagogies, including play-based learning and guided learning
So too, any changes must contemplate the intersections of assignability, theories of development and pedagogy, and the general policy levers through which the changes take place (i.e., considerations of implementation).
In June 2026, determinations about the path forward for grade band changes led to the commencement of two workgroups.
- The first workgroup is focusing on grade band changes and what is required for modification to current standards in Parts 20 and 26 of the Illinois Administrative Code.
- The second workgroup is developing recommendations for a K-only microcredential for teachers to earn and affix to a professional educator license in elementary education for grades 1 through 6.
The recommendations from both workgroups will be memorialized in and through the rule-making process in the fall of 2026, with anticipated enactment on July 1, 2027.
Meeting presentation decks may be found below.
