Section 24.110  Language Arts Standards for All Illinois Teachers

a)         All teachers must know a broad range of literacy techniques and strategies for every aspect of communication and must be able to develop each student's ability to read, write, speak, and listen to his or her potential within the demands of the discipline.

1)         Knowledge Indicators – The competent teacher:

A)        Understands and can articulate the needs for literacy development in general and in specific disciplines or at specific grade levels.

B)        Understands effective literacy techniques to activate prior student knowledge and build schema to enhance comprehension of "text".

C)        Knows strategies and techniques for teaching communication skills to those students whose first language is not English.

2)         Performance Indicators – The competent teacher:

A)        Practices effectively the language processes of reading, writing, and oral communication in the daily classroom exchange between student and teacher, between student and student, between teacher and "text", and between student and "text".

B)        Practices effective literacy techniques to make reading purposeful and meaningful.

C)        Practices effective questioning and discussion techniques to extend content knowledge acquired from "text".

D)        Uses a variety of "text" and research resources with students in an attempt to enhance students' learning from reading, learning from writing, and learning from oral communication.

b)         All teachers should model effective reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills during their direct and indirect instructional activities.  The most important communicator in the classroom is the teacher, who should model English language arts skills.

1)         Knowledge Indicators – The competent teacher:

A)        Knows and understands the rules of English grammar, spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and syntax for both written and oral contexts.

B)        Understands how to communicate ideas in writing to accomplish a variety of purposes.

2)         Performance Indicators – The competent teacher:

A)        Models the rules of English grammar, spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and syntax in both written and oral contexts.

B)        Reads, understands, and clearly conveys ideas from texts or other supplementary materials.

C)        Writes and speaks in a well-organized and coherent manner that adapts to the individual needs of readers/listeners.

D)        Expresses ideas orally with explanations, examples, and support in a clear, succinct style.

E)         Helps students understand a variety of modes of writing (persuasive, descriptive, informative, and narrative).

F)         Listens well.

c)         All teachers should give constructive instruction and feedback to students in both written and oral contexts while being aware of diverse learners' needs. Teachers should effectively provide a variety of instructional strategies, constructive feedback, criticism, and improvement strategies.

1)         Knowledge Indicators – The competent teacher:

A)        Understands how to analyze an audience to determine culturally appropriate communication strategies to share ideas effectively in both written and oral formats with students and their families, other faculty and administrators, and the community and business in general.

B)        Understands how to use diverse instructional strategies and assessments that include an appropriate balance of lecture, discussion, activity, and written and oral work.

2)         Performance Indicators – The competent teacher:

A)        Analyzes content materials to determine appropriate strategies and techniques to create successful learning through reading, writing, speaking, and listening.

B)        Assists students whose communication skills may be impeded by learning, language, and/or cultural differences, especially those whose first language is not English.

C)        Conducts effective classroom discussions by managing groups, asking questions, eliciting and probing responses, and summarizing for comprehension.

D)        Uses a variety of media to enhance and supplement instruction.

E)         Uses multi-disciplinary instructional approaches.