Section 25.90  Transitional Bilingual Certificate and Examination

Requirements for the Transitional Bilingual Certificate, issued pursuant to Section 14C-8 of the School Code, shall be as follows:

a)         General Requirements.  The applicant shall meet the following general requirements:

1)         Be in good health.

2)         Be of sound moral character.

3)         Be legally present in the United States and possess legal authorization for employment.

4)         Comply with certification application procedures.

b)         Requirements of Prior Education or Certification.  The applicant shall:

1)         Possess a current and valid certificate issued by the State of Illinois, or

2)         Have possessed within five years prior to the date of application a valid teaching certificate or comparable legal authorization issued by a foreign country or by a state or possession or territory of the United States, or

3)         Hold a degree from an institution of higher learning in a foreign country which the Certification Board determines to be the equivalent of a bachelor's degree from a recognized institution of higher learning in the United States (Section 14C-8 of the School Code; 105 ILCS 5/14C-8). The applicant must submit a certified transcript from the foreign institution.  The Certification Board will determine equivalency by comparing the applicant's course of study to that required for a bachelor's degree from a recognized institution of higher learning in the United States on factors including:

A)        the applicant's length of study at the foreign institution (which shall be equivalent to four years of postsecondary study after the age of eighteen);

B)        the number of credit hours or similar units of instruction which the applicant has successfully completed (which shall be the equivalent of 120 semester hours);

C)        the content of the applicant's courses and the distribution of courses among the various disciplines constituting a bachelor's degree program in the United States (which shall include the equivalent of a 32-semester-hour major field of study);

D)        the applicant's grades or similar evidence of successful academic performance;

E)         the foreign institution's accreditation status, if any.

c)         Language Requirements

1)         The applicant must demonstrate adequate speaking, reading, writing, and grammar skills in a non-English language in which transitional bilingual education is offered in Illinois.  This requirement may be fulfilled in one of the following ways:

A)        The applicant presents evidence of having graduated from a teacher preparation institution or an institution of higher education in which the medium of instruction was in a non-English language in which transitional bilingual education is offered in Illinois and for which certification is sought.

B)        The applicant successfully completes the required examination (see Section 25.710 of this Part) in the non-English language in which transitional bilingual education is offered in Illinois and for which certification is sought.  If no examination for transitional bilingual education in the target language is listed in Section 25.710 of this Part, the required examination shall be another examination administered by the State Board of Education.  The selection, development, and administration of each such examination shall conform to the requirements of Section 25.715 of this Part to the extent feasible in light of the rate of incidence of the target language in Illinois.

2)         The applicant must demonstrate adequate speaking, reading, writing, and grammar skills in English. This requirement may be fulfilled in one of the following ways:

A)        The applicant presents evidence of having graduated from an institution of higher education in which the medium of instruction was English.

B)        The applicant successfully completes the English Language Proficiency Examination (see Section 25.710 of this Part).

3)         An individual enrolled in an approved bilingual certification program who passed the Spanish language proficiency examination required by the program prior to July 1, 2001, shall be exempt from retaking a Spanish language proficiency test after that date, provided that:

A)        the university that operates the program forwards to the State Board of Education no later than November 1, 2001, a list of the names and Social Security numbers of those persons in its program who have passed the examination;

B)        the individual's name appears on the list submitted by the university in whose program he or she is enrolled; and

C)        the individual submits an application for bilingual certification based upon the institution's recommendation for certification no later than June 30, 2006.

d)         Appeals - Re-scoring

            A limited appeal shall be available to applicants found ineligible for certification because of failure to meet the language requirements on the basis of an examination in a language not listed in Section 25.710 of this Part.  An affected individual wishing to initiate such an an appeal shall notify the State Board of Education in writing within six weeks after release of the test results to candidates.  The appeal shall be limited to a request for re-scoring.  The State Board of Education shall honor each request unless no individual with the necessary language competency who was involved in the original scoring is available for re-scoring.

(Source:  Amended at 25 Ill. Reg. 16031, effective November 28, 2001)