FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 17, 2003
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.
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