Section 25.92  Visiting International Teacher Certificate

The procedure and requirements described in this Section shall apply when Illinois school districts conduct formal recruitment programs outside the United States to secure the services of qualified teachers.

a)         The school district that is seeking to recruit teachers shall enter into a written agreement with the State Board of Education regarding its recruitment program, shall provide such assurances as the State Board may require regarding compliance with applicable procedures, training of representatives, and support for candidates employed under the program, and shall be responsible for preliminary verification that each candidate:

1)         holds the equivalent of a bachelor’s degree issued in the U.S.;

2)         has been prepared as a teacher at the grade level for which he or she will be employed;

3)         has adequate content knowledge in the subject matter to be taught; and

4)         has an adequate command of the English language.

b)         A representative of the recruiting school district shall review the equivalence of each candidate’s degree to a bachelor’s degree earned in the U.S., the concentration of the candidate’s coursework in the area of potential teaching assignment, and the grade levels for which the candidate has been prepared, using reports of foreign educational systems furnished by the National Association of Foreign Student Affairs (AFSA) and the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admission Officers (AACRAO).

c)         A representative of the recruiting school district who has been trained by the State Board of Education or its designee in the use of the required instruments shall:

1)         administer the Nelson-Denny Reading Assessment to evaluate each candidate’s English-language vocabulary and reading comprehension against a passing score expressed as the grade-level equivalent of 10.7; and

2)         administer the Oral Proficiency Interview described in “ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines – Speaking” (1999), published by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), 6 Executive Plaza, Yonkers, NY 10701 (no later amendments to or editions of these standards are incorporated) and evaluate the candidate’s oral English-language proficiency against a minimum passing score of 2+ (Advanced Plus) on the rating rubric of the ACTFL.

d)         The recruiting school district shall provide a report to the State Board of Education outlining the district’s conclusions regarding each candidate whose eligibility it considers to have been verified.  This report shall provide or summarize at least:

1)         the information that has led the district to conclude that the individual’s degree should be considered the equivalent of a bachelor’s degree earned in the U.S.;

2)         how the district has identified the grade levels for which the individual has been prepared;

3)         the information that has led the district to conclude that the coursework completed by the individual is at least comparable to a major in the field of specialization and that the individual has passed an examination that provides evidence of subject-matter competency; and

4)         the scores achieved by the candidate on the Nelson-Denny Reading Assessment and the Oral Proficiency Interview.

e)         Either the recruiting district or the candidate shall furnish to one of the evaluation services identified in Section 25.425(f) of this Part the candidate’s university transcript, his or her diploma reflecting the degree granted, and his or her results from the comprehensive terminal examination or the periodic formal examinations required by the university where he or she completed teacher preparation, as applicable, along with translations of all these materials into English.

f)          The recruiting school district shall review and analyze the procedures that exist in the country where recruitment is being conducted for ascertaining individuals’ criminal history.  The district shall provide the State Board of Education with a description of those procedures and shall affirm:

1)         that the procedures have, to the district representative’s knowledge, been performed with respect to each potential candidate; and

2)         that each potential candidate is in good health and of sound moral character; and

3)         that no candidate recommended by the district as potentially eligible to teach in Illinois would be disqualified under Section 10-21.9(c) of the School Code.

g)         Upon receipt of the information and documents identified in subsections (d) and (f) of this Section, confirmation of the individual’s eligibility from the evaluation service to which credentials were submitted under subsection (e) of this Section, and an application for the certificate from the individual, accompanied by the fee required by Section 21-12 of the School Code, the State Board of Education shall issue a Visiting International Teacher Certificate endorsed for the field and grade levels the individual is qualified to teach.  He or she shall not be required to pass any test that forms part of the Illinois Certification Testing System (see Subpart I of this Part) in order to qualify for this certificate.  An individual may receive an additional endorsement on the Visiting International Teacher Certificate to teach his or her native language even if he or she was not prepared as a teacher of that language, provided that it was the language of instruction in the program completed.

h)         The Visiting International Teacher Certificate shall be valid for three years, subject to Section 21-22 of the School Code, and shall not be renewable.  The certificate-holder shall pay the fee required by Section 21-16 of the School Code to register the certificate with the regional superintendent in the region where the teaching will be done.

i)          A holder of a Visiting International Teacher Certificate shall be permitted to teach in bilingual education programs in the language that was the medium of instruction in his or her teacher preparation program, provided that he or she passes the English Language Proficiency Examination (see Section 25.710 of this Part) or another test of writing skill in English if identified by the State Board of Education in consultation with the State Teacher Certification Board.

(Source:  Added at 27 Ill. Reg. 16412, effective October 20, 2003)