Section 25.37  Acquisition of Subsequent Teaching Certificates (2004)

The provisions of this Section shall apply when an individual who already holds one or more Illinois early childhood, elementary, secondary, or special teaching certificates wishes to receive an additional teaching certificate of one of those types pursuant to Section 21-11.2 of the School Code.

a)         The candidate shall submit his or her official transcripts and evidence of teaching experience to an Illinois institution of higher education operating a program approved pursuant to Subpart C of this Part that prepares candidates for the certificate sought.

b)         The institution may, at its discretion, compare the coursework and clinical experiences already completed by the applicant to the standards for the certificate sought and, based on this comparison, may identify for the candidate a "focused program" consisting of coursework and experiences that he or she must complete in order to meet those standards.

1)         In formulating such a program, the institution shall ensure that the candidate has broad and deep knowledge of the subject matter, develops the knowledge and skills that are needed to work with students in the age and grade ranges encompassed by the certificate sought, and is knowledgeable about pedagogical approaches that are suitable for that age group.

2)         The institution may revise an individual's focused program to include additional or fewer components as it may deem appropriate based upon the results of internal performance assessments that form part of the unit assessment system (see Section 25.140 of this Part) or other assessments that are directly related to the standards for the certificate sought.

3)         Each institution shall make available a description of the method to be used by the educational unit in assessing the degree to which the work previously completed by candidates for focused programs has addressed relevant standards and in identifying the coursework and experiences these candidates will be required to complete in order to qualify for subsequent certificates.  An institution that uniformly requires all candidates seeking subsequent teaching certificates or subsequent teaching certificates of a particular type under this Section to complete certain coursework or field experiences, or to complete a full program without acknowledgment of prior courses or experiences, shall publish and make available a written statement to this effect, describing those requirements.

c)         A candidate who completes a focused program shall be considered as having completed the institution's approved program for the certificate sought and shall be eligible to be recommended for certification by entitlement, signifying that the candidate has met all applicable standards.

d)         The provisions of subsections (a) through (c) of this Section notwithstanding, an individual who holds a valid secondary certificate may receive a special K-12 certificate by submitting an application, along with the required fee and evidence of having passed the test of basic skills and the applicable content-area test and the assessment of professional teaching relevant to the special certificate (see Section 25.720 of this Part).  An endorsement valid for Grades K-12 shall be affixed to the certificate, reflecting the area in which the individual has completed a major area of specialization as provided in Section 25.25(b) of this Part.  Additional endorsements may be affixed pursuant to Sections 25.100 and 25.497 of this Part.

(Source:  Amended at 32 Ill. Reg. 3413, effective February 22, 2008)