Teacher Education Program Requirements | 2026-2027 Academic Catalog | SIU

It is advised that students seeking Professional Educator Licensure complete University Core Curriculum requirements prior to beginning courses involving the professional education sequence. For more information about ISBE and licensure requirements, please consult www.isbe.net.

In addition to general University and School of Education requirements, students must meet all requirements prior to student teaching.

SIU Carbondale students seeking Illinois teacher licensure must meet licensure requirements in effect at the time of their graduation. Licensure requirements are determined by the Illinois State Board of Education and are subject to change. Teacher licensure candidates are urged to consult the current SIU Carbondale Undergraduate Catalog and materials published by the SIU Carbondale School of Education and the Office of Teacher Education for updates to Illinois teacher licensure requirements.

Course Fees

Some courses have fees attached to their registration. These fees cover such items as laboratory fees, technology, supervision costs, field trips, printing of materials, and supplies. These fees are published in the class schedule but are subject to change. For the correct fee, contact the School that offers the class or the Registrar’s Office.

Teacher Education Program Licensure Areas

All initial teaching licensure programs at Southern Illinois University Carbondale are fully accredited by the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) and approved by the Illinois State Board of Education. Spanning the entire University, the Teacher Education Program is administered through the School of Education and includes majors from the School of Education, College of Arts and Media, College of Engineering, Computing, Technology, and Mathematics; College of Agricultural, Life, and Physical Sciences; and College of Liberal Arts. Teacher education programs approved by the Illinois State Educator Preparation and Licensure Board are offered at the undergraduate level in these areas: early childhood education, elementary education, special education, secondary education (biology, chemistry, english, mathematics for grades 9-12); agriculture for grades 5-12; and in art, music, physical education, and world languages for grades K-12).

The Program Improvement and Assessment Committee (PIAC), composed of program coordinators for all- campus-wide undergraduate and graduate majors with teacher licensure, serves in an advisory capacity on policy matters related to teacher education.

Only those teacher candidates who complete an approved Teacher Education Program earn entitlement for initial teacher licensure.

Admission Policy

All qualified new students are admitted to the School of Education with a specific major or as an undecided student. The same policy applies for reentering students and for teacher candidates enrolled in Teacher Education Program majors in other colleges in the University. Admission to the School of Education does not guarantee admission to the Teacher Education Program. ALL teacher candidates seeking state teacher licensure must first be admitted to the Teacher Education Program. Specific requirements for admission are listed below. Application information is available in the Teacher Education Program office or online at: teachereducation.siu.edu.

Teacher candidates are admitted two times a year to the Teacher Education Program: before the first day of the fall and spring semesters. Completed applications will be accepted online (teachereducation.siu.edu), in the Teacher Education Program office, or at tep@siu.edu after the following criteria are met:

1. When the candidate is ready to begin four continuous semesters of the professional education sequence;
2. An overall grade point average of at least 2.75 (4.0 scale);
3. An unofficial transcript documenting completion of ENGL 101 and ENGL 102 with a grade of “C” or better;
4. Approval by major program if required;
5. Students are encouraged to declare a particular teaching field early in their undergraduate careers by contacting their advisor in the program in which they wish to specialize. Transfer students are encouraged to contact academic advisors in the program in which they wish to specialize, at least one semester prior to enrolling at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

Retention Policy for Teacher Education

This retention policy applies to all teacher candidates enrolled at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

1. Teacher candidates who wish to change majors within the Teacher Education Program after being admitted must reapply and be admitted in the new major before they can enroll in a clinical placement. Teacher candidates who change their major may be required to take additional hours of clinical practice to meet the required clinical hours in their major.
2. Teacher candidates may not enroll in EDUC 301 more than two times without a meeting with the director and approval for continuation.
3. Teacher candidates must maintain a 2.75 grade point average in the major throughout their program. This requirement must be met before final clearance can be given for student teaching.
4. Teacher candidates must receive program approval of their Gateway Defense.
5. All teacher candidates must pass their Illinois content area test(s) prior to beginning their student
teaching.

Academic Notice, Warning, and Suspension from the Teacher Education Program

The Teacher Education Program expects and requires adequate progress of all its teacher candidates throughout the program. Once admitted, candidates will be monitored for applications of learning in their clinical practice. The Teacher Education Program defines performance in each clinical practice, aligned to the Illinois Professional Educator Standards, in a rubric with defined behaviors and skills. The rubric is specific and detailed, designed to guide candidates and clinical supervisors in fair, consistent assessment of performance. This rubric is presented to candidates at the beginning of their clinical practice.

At any time during their Professional Education Sequence, field supervisors (Cooperating Teacher, Clinical Supervisor, or School Administrator) may determine that the teacher candidate is at risk of not meeting the defined performance standards. The supervisor will forward evidence of “Inadequate Progress” to the Director of Teacher Education, who will, in turn, forward the evidence to the Program Coordinator. Each Program has on file in the Dean’s Office a formal plan of remediation for its candidates. The Program Faculty, in consultation with the Teacher Education Program, may decide what level of consequence to implement.

The ultimate responsibility for retention of a candidate in the Teacher Education Program belongs to the Director of Teacher Education.

Teacher candidates who do not earn a 2.75 grade point average in courses required by their major may be dismissed from the Teacher Education Program. A teacher candidate who has been placed on academic notice, warning, or suspension will be counseled on their future in the Teacher Education Program.

Dispositions in Teacher Education

A candidate must have good character, sound mental and physical health, and must demonstrate the skills, dispositions and behaviors necessary for working with children and/or adolescents, as applicable.
Dispositions adopted by the School of Education Teacher Education Program are:

• Professionalism: dependability and reliability; honesty, trustworthiness, ethics; enthusiasm, love of learning and commitment to the profession.
• Valuing human diversity: showing respect and sensitivity to the learning needs and abilities of all individuals, and to their diverse cultures, languages, races, and family compositions; striving for best practices to address the diverse learning needs and abilities of all individuals and to address their diverse cultures, languages, races, and family compositions; and collaboration with diverse peers, professional colleagues, staff and families.
• Professional development: ongoing acquisition of knowledge; development of research-based practices; assessment of one’s own performance and reflection on needed improvements.

Upon admission to the Teacher Education Program, candidates are informed of the dispositions expected of SIU Carbondale’s teacher education candidates in a group session. The teacher candidates are then formally assessed regarding their professional dispositions as part of all clinical practice in the schools and during program coursework. In addition, at any time during the program, a faculty member or field supervisor may identify a teacher candidate who is experiencing difficulty regarding the development of desired dispositions and complete a dispositions form that is forwarded to the director and coordinator of that teacher candidate’s program major. The program reviews any difficulties and develops an action plan with the candidate to address them. A candidate who does not make progress toward ameliorating the difficulties in professional dispositions discusses a remediation plan with benchmarks for improvement with their program coordinator. Teacher candidates who do not make adequate progress in the remediation plan may be dropped from the program.

Teacher Education Program Degree Requirements

Each degree candidate in a Teacher Education Program must complete the requirements listed below:

• All requirements of the student’s major.
• The University Core Curriculum.
• EDUC 101 (Elementary Education and Early Childhood majors only), EDUC 211, EDUC 214, EDUC 301, EDUC 302, EDUC 303, EDUC 308 (not required for Special Education Majors), EDUC 313, EDUC 319, EDUC 400 (Special Education majors only), EDUC 401A, in the professional education sequence (with a grade of C or better).
• ENGL 101 and ENGL 102 with a grade of C or better.
• Teacher candidates must receive a grade of C or better in all courses in one’s major and endorsement area(s) to receive entitlement for teacher licensure.
• EDUC 360 is required of all secondary teacher candidates unless otherwise specified in the major.

Professional Education Sequence Degree Requirements

Degree Requirements			Credit Hours
Depending on major				35-36
Basic Professional Preparation: EDUC 101 (Elementary Education and Early Childhood majors only); EDUC 211; EDUC 214; EDUC 313; EDUC 319; EDUC 308 (Special Education majors take EDUC 400 in lieu of EDUC 308)			15-18
Courses with Clinical Practice: EDUC 301; EDUC 302; EDUC 303			3
EDUC 400 (SPED only)			5
Professional Semester of Student Teaching EDUC 401A			12

Student Teaching

Student teaching constitutes a total professional commitment on the part of the teacher candidate and is a full semester of clinical practice in the public-school classroom carrying 12 hours of credit. Enrolling in coursework during student teaching is strongly discouraged. Teacher candidates must have a 3.0 grade point average or better and special permission of the Teacher Education Program to enroll in an extra course during student teaching.

The student teacher must follow the same daily schedule as the cooperating teacher with whom the teacher candidate is placed. The student teacher remains in the school for the entire day and participates in activities required of the cooperating teacher.

Teacher candidates majoring in early childhood education will be assigned to work with a cooperating teacher in pre-kindergarten to grade 2. Teacher candidates majoring in elementary education will be assigned to work with a cooperating teacher in first to sixth grade. Teacher candidates who major in secondary education will be assigned to work with a cooperating teacher in grades nine through twelve, whose teaching assignment is consistent with the teacher candidate’s teaching major. Teacher candidates are expected to teach all subject areas taught within the specific major.

Special education majors will be assigned to work with cooperating teachers in a set of sequenced clinicals with a full range of ages, types, levels of abilities, and collaborative opportunities in order to receive LBS I licensure.

Teacher candidates who wish to enroll in the student teaching professional semester must file an application with the Teacher Education Program in the School of Education one semester in advance of the semester during which they wish to receive an assignment. Teacher candidates who wish to student teach in a district outside of the 60-mile radius of Southern Illinois University must request such placement considerations as soon as possible. Late notification may delay placement and could delay program completion. Student teaching is limited to the schools approved by the Teacher Education Program as partnership schools.

Placement of Student Teachers

Student teaching, under the supervision of Southern Illinois University Carbondale faculty, is conducted in teaching centers with affiliated schools located in southern Illinois as well as affiliated remote schools. A current listing of specific schools to which student teachers may be assigned is available on the School of Education Teacher Education website. Cooperating teachers for student teachers must be highly qualified in their grade level and subject area, have at least 3 years teaching in the licensure area, be recommended by building administrator for effective mentoring and instructional coaching capabilities and have earned a rating of proficient or higher on their latest evaluation.

Teacher candidates will be assigned to one of the SIU Carbondale clinical sites. To help ensure unbiased performance and evaluation, student teachers will not be placed in a school in which they have attended, or family members currently work. Although every consideration is made to place on campus student teachers within 60 miles of campus or online students 30 miles from their residency, no guarantees of a close placement can be made. Student teachers are responsible for their own transportation to and from student teaching sites.

Student Teaching Prerequisites

1. Teacher candidates must have submitted a completed student teaching application form.
2. The teacher candidate must have completed all clinical practices with a C or better.
3. The teacher candidate must have a minimum overall average of 2.75 in the major before beginning work in student teaching.
4. The teacher candidate must have completed with a C or better all methods class(es) required for the major prior to the student teaching semester, as well as in all EDUC courses and courses in one’s major and endorsement area(s). All incompletes must be removed prior to student teaching.
5. Teacher candidates must pass their respective Illinois content test(s) before being permitted to student teach.
6. Every student teacher must have submitted a health clearance and TB test performed by the Health Center or by their own medical doctor.
7. Every teacher candidate must submit evidence of Mandated Reporter Training and CANTS 22 completion certificate.
8. Student teachers are required to have an FBI fingerprint-based background check on file with the district in which they are student teaching.

Licensure Office

The Teacher Education Program serves as the Licensure Office for all teacher candidates and will verify that the candidate has:

1. Their degree awarded and posted to their official SIU Carbondale transcript;
2. Passing scores posted to their ELIS account on the applicable content test(s); and
3. Completion of all requirements of the approved Illinois educator preparation program for the type of endorsement sought.

The Teacher Education Program then enters the entitlement via Educator Licensure Information System (ELIS) indicating that the candidate has completed all requirements. A message appears on the home screen of the candidate's personal ELIS account. In ELIS the candidates may then complete the process to claim and register their teaching license or subsequent endorsement.