Section 25.425  Individuals Prepared in Out-of-State Institutions

An applicant who holds or is eligible to hold another state's or another country's teacher, school service personnel, or administrative certificate may be granted a corresponding Illinois certificate if he or she meets all the generally applicable requirements of Article 21 of the School Code (e.g., age; good character; or citizenship or legal presence) and the requirements for the certificate sought, as specified in the applicable Sections of this Part.  As used in each of those Sections, a "comparable program" is one that leads to eligibility for service in the same capacity in the public schools of the state where the program was completed.

a)         The certificate sought must be comparable to the out-of-state certificate for which the applicant is eligible.  A comparable Illinois certificate is that which is most nearly like that of the other state (e.g., a K-6 certificate from another state most nearly approximates the Illinois elementary (K-9) certificate).

b)         Each out-of-state applicant for an Illinois teaching certificate must have met certification requirements that are similar to Illinois requirements.

1)         For those who have completed traditional preparation programs, these requirements include college coursework in professional education, including pre-student teaching clinical experiences or equivalent experience, student teaching or equivalent experience, and a major in a subject area that is relevant to the area of certification.

2)         For those who have completed alternative certification programs, these requirements include graduation from a regionally accredited institution with a bachelor's degree, an intensive course of study approved by that state for this purpose, and student teaching or another structured teaching experience that forms part of the approved alternative program.

3)         An applicant who holds a certificate from another state, territory, or possession of the U.S. but has not completed a preparation program approved by that state shall be required to present a written statement, signed by a representative of the agency issuing the certificate indicating that, at the time when the applicant was certified, the state of certification had certification requirements related to general education, professional education, and an area of specialization for the certificate issued and the applicant met the requirements in all three areas.

            c)         An individual may receive additional endorsements by meeting the applicable requirements of Section 25.100 of this Part.

d)         Special provisions apply to applicants from states that do not require certification of school psychologists or school social workers or for administrative positions for which certification is required in Illinois.  When an applicant presents evidence of having served in such a position in a state where certification for the position is not required, eligibility for the Illinois certificate sought shall be contingent upon evidence that the applicant:

1)         has met all applicable requirements of Illinois law relative to the certificate and endorsement sought;

2)         has passed the Illinois test of basic skills and the relevant Illinois content-area test; and

3)         has met any three of the conditions described in subsections (d)(3)(A) through (E) of this Section.

A)        The individual has completed a degree program that prepares candidates for service in the endorsement area sought in the public schools of the state where the program was completed or the state where the service was provided.

B)        The individual has completed a program that was accredited by NCATE at the time of completion.

C)        The individual has completed a program that formerly served as a basis for certification in the state where the program was completed.

D)        The titles or content descriptions of courses listed on the individual's official transcript indicate that the courses were designed to address standards substantially comparable to those that apply to the Illinois certificate or endorsement sought.

E)         The individual presents evidence of work experience in the public schools in the position for which Illinois certification is sought.

e)         A candidate whose credentials were earned at an institution outside the United States shall submit the documents prepared by the foreign institution to a service whose evaluations are accepted by the State Board pursuant to subsection (f) of this Section.

1)         After reviewing the documents submitted, the service shall provide to the State Superintendent of Education a statement identifying the degree held by the individual and indicating whether or not the individual has been prepared as an educator.  The service shall also provide a list of the courses completed, with the credits earned equated to semester hours.

2)         The transcript provided by the service pursuant to subsection (e)(1) of this Section shall be reviewed to determine whether the individual qualifies for a certificate; if so, he or she shall receive such a certificate with all endorsements indicated by the coursework completed.

3)         If the review of the individual's transcript indicates that he or she does not qualify for a certificate, he or she shall receive a notification of the deficiencies for the certificate.

f)          Evaluation services shall be approved to review foreign credentials for purposes of Illinois certification if they demonstrate experience working on behalf of either the National Association of Foreign Student Affairs or the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers.  However, the State Board of Education may discontinue acceptance of evaluations from any service based on evidence of material inconsistencies in reviews.  The State Board shall maintain an up-to-date list of all organizations whose reviews are being accepted and shall make this list readily available.

(Source:  Amended at 29 Ill. Reg. 12374, effective July 28, 2005)