Teacher Certification
Teaching Certificates
- Early Childhood, Infancy-Grade 3 (Type 04)
- Elementary, K-9 (Type 03)
- Secondary, 6-12 (Type 09): Biology, Chemistry, Economics, English, History, Mathematics, Physics, Political Science, Sociology
- K-12, (Type 10): Art, French, Music, Physical Education, Spanish
Certification Program Components
- Education sequence coursework
- State general education requirements-this requirement will be met at North Park by taking the College Base Examination. Each candidate in North Park University’s Teacher Certification program will be required to take the College Base Exam published by the University of Missouri. Based on his/her performance on this general knowledge assessment test, the candidate will be exempt from or will be required to take additional coursework in English, Math, Science, and/or Social Sciences. North Park University requires a score of at least 300 in each area (50th percentile or above). If a 300 is not earned in any one area, the candidate will be required to take an additional course in that area.
- Academic area of concentration (Early Chilhood and Elementary certificate program-must have 18 hours in an approved major area)
- Subject area major (Secondary and K-12 certificate program-must have 32 hours or more of an approved content area)
- Field Experiences-One of the keys to the success of North Park’s development of teaching professionals is our unique blend of field experiences. North Park’s three-tiered teaching practica offers you a minimum of three different educational settings at three distinct levels of classroom involvement with up to three age groupings. You will implement skills in a progressive fashion and gain a broad perspective of student groups, classroom environments, and school cultures in private, Chicago public, and suburban schools. Selected local school field sites function as educational laboratories and serve as partners in education by providing experienced teachers who model effective teaching skills. North Park faculty and staff will carefully monitor your progress, providing individualized feedback and guidance throughout these field experiences: Teacher Aiding, Mini-teaching, and Student Teaching
Program length will vary from student to student. In order to complete our program, every student must fulfill the state mandated general education courses. In addition to these requirements, each individual must also complete the major and/or academic area of concentration components of their program and the education coursework. The average completion time of education courses is 1 1/2 to 2 years part-time and 1 to 1 1/2 years full-time. The number of deficiencies in the student's academic area of concentration or content area and whether a student attends full-or part-time will affect the length of their program.
Recommendation for Entitlement
Recommendation for entitlement is made for most students upon
completion of their program. Recommendation for certification is based on:
- Successful completion of all requirements of the certification component
of their respective program including all prerequisite general
education and major/concentration requirements with required GPA’s.
- Candidates are required to pass the Basic Skills Test, and Specialty Area
Test administered by the ISBE before a certificate is issued.
- All applications for certification with their respective fees have been filed
with the North Park Certification Officer.
- An Assessment of Professional Teaching (APT) test will assess each
candidate’s knowledge of the Illinois Professional Teaching Standards,
Core Technology Standards, and Core Language Arts Standards.
Candidates must pass this before applications for Certification can
be filed with the state.
Once you receive your entitlement you are qualified to seek full-time
employment as a certified teacher in the State of Illinois.
For more information about our teacher certification program, please contact the Linda Pastorello by email or by phone at (773) 244-5613.