The University of Illinois at Chicago is an urban university located just west of the downtown area. There are over 26,000 students studying at the University of Illinois at Chicago. UIC offers certification programs in Early Childhood, Elementary, Secondary, Reading, Special Education, Urban Education Leadership, School Social Work and School Nursing. They also offer secondary specialist certification programs in subjects like art, chemistry and mathematics, among others. The university takes advantage of the ethnic and cultural diversity of the city in its teacher certification programs. The certification programs require over 360 hours of fieldwork in addition to student teaching. Fieldwork and teaching take place in Chicago and is mostly done in African American and Latino communities. The UIC programs are the largest providers of teachers for the Chicago public schools.
UIC Council on Teacher Education
1040 W. Harrison (M/C 147) - Room 3015
Chicago, IL 60607-7133
312-355-0714
education.uic.edu/cte/index.cfm
The city of DeKalb is home to Northern Illinois University. DeKalb is about 65 miles northwest of Chicago. The 25,000 student population makes the university the second largest in the state. Northern Illinois University has been offering teacher certification programs for over 100 years. There are 26 initial certification programs organized under the type of certification that they lead to. These Certifications that are offered are: Early Childhood, Elementary Education, Secondary Education, Special (K-12) Certificate and Special (P-21) Certificate. Secondary specialist certification programs offered at NIU include: science, mathematics and English language arts, among others. Candidates need to put in 100 hours of clinical experience and successfully complete 10 to 16 weeks of student teaching. NIU has an excellent record of placing graduates of their certification programs.
Office of Teacher Certification
Northern Illinois University
1425 W. Lincoln Hwy.
DeKalb, IL 60115-2828
815-753-1000
www.teachercertification.niu.edu/teachercertification/
Monmouth College is a small, private liberal arts college in Monmouth, 161 miles west of Chicago. The college has about 1,400 students and uses the motto, "What college was meant to be." Monmouth does not offer all the certification programs that the larger state universities do, but it has a more individualized program. It offers three teaching certificates: Elementary Education, Secondary Education and K-12 Special Education. The school also offers a variety of endorsements for specific content area for teaching candidates who plan on working with students in grades 6 to 12. Students do their student teaching in Monmouth and the surrounding area. The student teaching requirement is eight semester hours in addition to anotherl four semester hours of coursework based on the student teaching experience.
Department of Educational Studies
Monmouth College
700 E. Broadway, Monmouth, Illinois 61462
309-457-2311
www.monm.edu/academics/educational-studies