An endorsement is attached to your grade level certificate and indicates what subjects you may teach.  A middle school endorsement is required of all elementary and secondary certification candidates wishing to teach subject specific or departmentalized grades 5-8.  (The endorsement is not required for music candidates, who will earn K-12 certificates.)

ISBE is in the process of moving towards a middle school certificate which will be required to teach grades 5-9; effective 2010 or before. Credit for middle school coursework does not guarantee middle school certification or endorsement.

Middle school endorsements available for elementary candidates (grades 5-8) can be earned at IWU in the following areas:

• Art
• Biological science
• General science
• Physical science
• Bilingual Education (through the Urban Education Program)*
• English as a second language (through the Urban Education Program) **
• Health education
• Language arts (English)
• Mathematics*** (see specific course requirements below)
• Music
• Social science (psychology, political science, history, sociology, anthropology, economics)
• French
• Spanish
• Theatre/Drama

Middle school endorsements available for secondary candidates (grades 6-8) can be earned at IWU in the following areas:

• Biological science
• General science
• Physical science
• Mathematics*** (see specific course requirements below)

The above endorsements require Educational Studies 362 and the corresponding discipline specific seminar.

• Language arts (English)
• Social science
• French, Spanish, Italian, Greek, Latin

The above endorsements require Educational Studies 360 and the corresponding discipline specific seminar.

• Bilingual Education (through the Urban Education Program)*

• English as a second language (through the Urban Education Program) **

 All middle school endorsements require

• Educ 260: Teaching and Learning in the Middle School.

Coursework on early adolescent development is included in Educational Studies 255 and 260. Candidates wishing to student teach in grades 5-8 are advised to take this course prior to student teaching, but not concurrent with 300 level Educational Studies courses.

• Five units or 20 semester hours of coursework in one or more of the above disciplines, with specific course requirements for particular endorsements as noted below.

* A middle grade endorsement in bilingual education requires 18 hours (4.5 units) among the following areas:

• Foundations of bilingual education

• Assessment of bilingual students

• Methods and materials for teaching limited English-proficient students

• Cross-cultural studies for teaching limited English-proficient students

• AND successful completion of a language examination in the non-English language to be taught,

• AND bilingual clinical experience totaling 100 clock hours or three months teaching experience in a bilingual program.

** A middle grade endorsement in English as a Second Language requires 18 hours (4.5 units) among the following areas:

• Linguistics

• Theoretical foundations of teaching ESL

• Assessment of the bilingual student

• Methods and materials for teaching ESL

• Cross-cultural studies for teaching limited English-proficient students

• AND ESL clinical experience totaling 100 clock hours or three months teaching experience with ESL students.

* Elementary education candidates wishing to teach mathematics at the middle school level (grades 5-8) must take Educ 350: Middle School Mathematics, Math 105/106, and and four courses from four of the Content areas listed below:

• Calculus

• Modern Algebra or Number Theory

• Geometry

• Computer Science

• Probability and Statistics

• History of Mathematics

Courses may include those taken to meet general education requirements, and those for which you have earned AP credit. Alternatively, you may choose to minor in a specific discipline. With Educational Studies Department approval, this middle school concentration requirement may be partially met with non-IWU courses.

It is strongly advised you also take the Content Area exam in your chosen endorsement areas in order to be eligible for the middle school certificate, once it is implemented.