UIS Graduate and Undergraduate Catalog
Academic Year 2004 - 2005

TEACHER EDUCATION
Minor in Elementary Education and Minor in Secondary Education

Faculty Gary Butler, Allan F. Cook, Taiebeh Hossenali, Loretta F. Meeks, Larry D. Stonecipher, Gary A. Storm, Theresa Sullivan-Stewart, Cindy Wilson

Contact: (217) 206-6682
tep@uis.edu or www.uis.edu/teachereducation/

The teacher education minors provide course work that leads to initial Illinois certification at the elementary or secondary level when combined with an appropriate academic major and fulfillment of general education and campus requirements. Candidates seeking a bachelor's degree and either initial elementary or secondary certification should expect that their total program of study will exceed the minimum number of hours required for graduation.

Elementary education candidates must major in an academic discipline. Candidates should work closely with their TEP adviser to determine an appropriate discipline.

Secondary education candidates may major in one of several programs leading to certification in the areas of English, biological science, mathematics, or social studies.

The teacher education program has prepared a student handbook and a handbook for student teachers. Both handbooks are available online. Candidates are expected to consult these sources in addition to this catalog statement.

Admission
Candidates seeking initial certification in either elementary or secondary education may make formal application to the teacher education program at any time. Applications to the program will be considered three times a year -- October 15, March 15, and July 15. To have his/her application considered, a student must meet with a TEP representative, be admitted to UIS, and have an overall GPA of 2.50 (on a 4.00 scale) for all college work. The student must have passed the basic skills part of the Illinois Certification Exam, completed the formal application form (which can be found online at www.uis.edu/teachereducation), and submit official transcripts from all schools attended prior to applying to the teacher education program. To be fully admitted to the program, candidates must have completed or be enrolled in, 1) PSY 401 or other course work in educational psychology, 2) PSY 422 or other course work in child development (elementary) or PSY 423 or other course work in adolescent psychology (secondary), and 3) TEP 301, an introduction to education class, or the equivalent. As a fourth prerequisite, applicants are required to have a course in service learning or documentation of at least 30 hours of work with school-age children in an educational setting.

Once admitted to the program, a student must maintain a grade-point average of 3.00 in teacher education course work, a grade-point average of 2.75 in his/her disciplinary concentration (elementary) or area of specialization (secondary), and a grade-point average of 2.50 overall. He or she must also successfully complete the practicum experiences required in the minors. Student progress is evaluated throughout the teacher education program, and candidates who do not meet these standards may be removed from the program.

All candidates applying to the teacher education program and candidates applying to student teach will be required to have a criminal background investigation. The TEP program will do these checks; a fee will be assessed for each investigation. Information and materials for this requirement will be provided at the time of application.

Clinical Experiences
Methods courses required in the elementary and secondary minors require clinical field experiences. Each of the elementary methods courses has 30 hours of required field experience, and each of the secondary methods courses has 40 hours of required field experience. All candidates will complete at least 120 hours of field experience prior to student teaching. Candidates are assigned to area schools by the teacher education program. At least one of the field experiences will occur in a school that is considered diverse in ethnicity, race, socioeconomic status, gender, exceptionalities, language, religion, sexual orientation, and/or geographical area.

Student teaching, which occurs during the final semester, is a 16-week professional experience in a public or private school setting. Candidates apply to student teach the semester prior to the actual experience. To be placed for student teaching, candidates must have passed the content area exam for their certification area, have an overall GPA of 2.50, a GPA of 2.75 in their major (area of specialization), and a GPA of 3.00 in coursework for the TEP minor. Student teaching placements are made to school districts in the central Illinois area, and are supervised by university supervisors and local cooperating teachers. To be fully certified, candidates must also pass the Illinois State Board of Education's Assessment of Professional Teaching test. The program recommends that candidates take this exam prior to the completion of student teaching.

General Education Requirements for All Candidates
Pursuant to the State of Illinois Professional Teaching Standards, candidates in teacher education are expected to possess general education knowledge. General education is defined as "theoretical and practical understanding generally expected of a liberally educated person. General education includes developing knowledge related to the arts, communications, history, literature, mathematics, philosophy, sciences, and the social studies, from multicultural and global perspectives." In addition, the program expects candidates to have completed experiences related to health and wellness. As part of the application process to the teacher education program, candidates are required to complete the General Education Self-Assessment form. Information on this form is reviewed at the candidate's entrance interview and upon application to student teaching. The candidate, the Entrance Interview Committee and the candidate's adviser collaboratively create a plan for addressing any areas in which the candidate is deficient. The candidate must meet all general education standards prior to application for student teaching.

Prerequisite for Admission
To be admitted to the minor, candidates must first take and pass the basic skills test of the Illinois State Teacher Certification exam. Materials for this test may be obtained through the TEP office. Candidates must also pass a criminal background check. Information regarding this requirement is also available through the teacher education office. In addition, the following course/experience prerequisites must be met.

1. PSY 401 or other course work in educational psychology.
2. PSY 422 or other course work in human development (for elementary candidates) or
PSY 423 or other course work in adolescent psychology (for secondary candidates).
3. TEP 301, an introduction to education class, or equivalent life experiences.
4. A course in service learning or documentation of at least 30 hours of work with school-age children in an approved educational setting.

Minor in Elementary Education
Candidates interested in obtaining a minor in elementary education must be enrolled in a baccalaureate degree program at UIS. To receive the initial elementary certificate in the state of Illinois, candidates must complete the minor requirements, degree requirements, and be recommended for certification by the program.

Course Requirements
TEP 305 Technology for Teaching 3 Hrs.
TEP 307 History and Philosophy of Education 3 Hrs.
TEP 322 Teaching, Learning, and Assessment 3 Hrs.
PSY 424 Exceptional Child 4 Hrs.
TEP 423 Basic Reading and Language Arts Methods 3 Hrs.
TEP 424 Methods of Teaching Elementary Math 3 Hrs.
TEP 425 Methods of Teaching Elementary Social Studies
and Humanities 3 Hrs.
TEP 426 Methods of Teaching Elementary Science 3 Hrs.
TEP 448 Student Teaching Seminar Grades K-9 3 Hrs.
TEP 450 Student Teaching Grades K-9 9 Hrs.
Total for minor 37 Hrs.

The ISBE middle school endorsement requirement went into effect on July 1, 1997. Any teacher hired after that date to teach in a departmentalized school containing grades 5, 6, 7, and/or 8 must have completed course work covering middle school curriculum, philosophy and organization of middle schools, and the psychology of adolescence. Candidates must also take TEP 401 Middle School Concepts and Practices and have a major in an endorsable middle school subject, such as math, English, science, or history. Additional endorsements are possible, but candidates must have a minimum of nine upper-division credits (300- and 400-level courses) from UIS.

Minor in Secondary Education
The University of Illinois at Springfield is entitled to certify secondary teachers in four areas: social studies, English, biological science, and mathematics. The secondary education minor thus provides opportunities to combine undergraduate disciplinary study with education courses in a program leading to secondary certification.

Candidates interested in a secondary certificate must be enrolled in a baccalaureate degree program at UIS. To receive the initial secondary certificate in the state of Illinois, candidates must complete the minor requirements, degree requirements, and be recommended for certification by the program.

Course Requirements
TEP 305 Technology for Teaching 3 Hrs.
TEP 307 History and Philosophy of Education 3 Hrs.
PSY 424 Exceptional Child 4 Hrs.
TEP 314 Curriculum and Instruction 3 Hrs.
TEP 401 Middle School Concepts and Practices 3 Hrs.
TEP 419 Content Area Literacy 3 Hrs.

Content Methods (choose one)
TEP 435 English Methods Grades 6-12
TEP 436 Mathematics Methods Grades 6-12
TEP 437 Science Methods Grades 6-12
TEP 438 Social Studies Methods Grades 6-12 3 Hrs.

Approved elective 2-3 Hrs.

TEP 449 Student Teaching Seminar Grades 6-12 3 Hrs.
TEP 451 Student Teaching Grades 6-12 9 Hrs.
Total for minor 36-37 Hrs.

Post-baccalaureate Candidates Seeking Certification Only
Candidates who possess a bachelor's degree in a certifiable area are welcome in the teacher education program. To obtain elementary or secondary certification, candidates must meet all program requirements for entrance and fulfill the same sequence of courses that candidates seeking the minor in elementary or secondary education are required to complete. In addition, candidates seeking endorsement in secondary education will have their transcripts reviewed by faculty in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences to determine if and what additional course work must be completed before a recommendation for certification can be made. Assuming that all prerequisites are met, candidates can expect to spend a minimum of four semesters completing certification requirements. Interested parties should contact the program chair, the program adviser, or the program website for additional information regarding certification-only requirements.

Certification
The teacher education program recommends candidates to the State Teacher Certification Board for K-9 certification or 6-12 certification on the completion of several criteria. Candidates must meet a set of general education requirements set by the program, complete and pass tests of basic skills, subject matter knowledge and assessment of professional teaching administered by the state certification system, and satisfy any additional requirements outlined by the State Teacher Certification Board, which has sole authority for awarding or denying teacher certification.

Project Minority Student Support for Teaching (MSS)
Project MSS is a program designed to recruit African-American teachers for the Springfield and Decatur school systems. Students make application by May 1 of each year and are approved by the Project MSS director and the TEP convener. Students enrolled at this phase of the program must make a serious commitment to teaching and pledge to teach in either Springfield or Decatur. All program requirements are consistent with the expectations of TEP. To maintain good standing in Project MSS and to be eligible for a tuition waiver and semester stipends, students must enroll in a minimum of 12 hours per semester, maintain a 2.75 overall grade-point average, maintain a 3.00 grade-point average in TEP course work, have a minimum of 10 hours per semester of community service, submit semester status reports, and abide by all policies and procedures of Project MSS. Students failing to maintain any one of these requirements will be given one semester of probationary admission. Interested students should contact the Project MSS director.

Title II Report Card
UIS teacher education candidates taking the Illinois Test of Basic Skills and the content area tests for certification recorded a 100 percent pass rate for the 1999-00, 2000-01, and 2001-02 academic years.