Certification
Special Education - Graduate
College of Education

Students completing the Master of Arts in the special education program will earn a Type 10 special certificate.  This certificate licenses the teacher candidate to teach children with disabilities from Pre-K through age 21.  Currently, content area endorsements cannot be added to a Type 10 certificate.  The program at Roosevelt University leads to an LBSI endorsement which is added to the Type 10 certificate allowing graduates of the program to teach students with specific learning disabilities, emotional disturbance, cognitive disabilities, physical disabilities, autism, other health impairments, and traumatic brain injury. 

Certification Requirements

ICTS Tests:

There are several requirements that must be met before the certificate is awarded.  To begin with, there is a minimum of three state tests that must be passed at different stages of your program.  These tests include:

• Basic Skills – must be passed before beginning education coursework
• LBSI Content Test – must be passed before beginning student teaching
• General Curriculum Test - must be passed prior to certification.
• APT (Assessment of Professional Teaching) – must be passed prior to certification and is typically taken the same semester as student teaching.
• Other tests may be recommended depending on the grade level you are planning to teach (i.e., preschool, elementary, middle school, secondary.  See note below.)

Click here for a link to the ICTS website to register for tests and to review study guides and practice exams.

General Education Requirements

With the knowledge that a special educator may be called on to teach a variety of subjects, students must complete general education requirements as listed below to provide basic content knowledge and to allow the educator to make connections between subject areas to increase student learning:

• ENG 101
• ENG 102
• MATH (College Level)
• MATH 105 (Math for the Elementary School Teacher)
• BIOL
• PHYS SCI (one of the two science courses must have a lab experience)
• US History (plus any two other humanities courses to total a minimum of 9 semester hours)
• US Government (plus any two other social science courses to total a minimum of 9 semester hours)
• Nonwestern Elective (this course must focus on Africa, Asia, Latin America, or Native America and can be any humanities or social science topic)

Content Endorsements and Academic Concentrations

Note:  Currently, special education is considered its own academic concentration area.  Because of the rules and regulations of the federal government’s No Child Left Behind act, this may change.  Students interested in teaching special education at the elementary level are advised to take and pass the ELED Content Area test as well as the LBS1 test.  Students interested in teaching special education at the middle school or high school level are encouraged to complete an 18 – 24 semester hour academic concentration in a teachable content area (e.g., history, English, mathematics, science) and to pass the subject area content test for that concentration.

Middle School Endorsement

If you are planning to teach at the middle school level, it is recommended that you complete the two middle school endorsement courses, EDUC 411 – Adolescent Development, and EDUC 413 – Foundations of Middle School in addition to the prescribed courses in the special education professional sequence.

Pre-Practicum Field Work

Students must complete a minimum of 100 pre student teaching clock hours in public schools or public school programs in order to be certified to teach in the State of Illinois.  Clock hours must be documented on verification of clock hour forms and be in your file prior to submitting your application for certification. 

Professional Coursework

Students must complete the entire teacher preparation professional sequence of courses as directed by the Illinois State Board of Education.  Coursework at Roosevelt University is designed to meet the state teaching standards for all teachers including the common core special education standards, the LBS1 standards, technology standards, and general language arts standards.  Each class is an important part of the state requirements and will help you be prepared after graduation. 

Practicum

Student teaching is the culminating activity in the graduate special education program.  You will complete two intensive experiences.  The first is a five-week internship and the second a ten-week student teaching experience.  Prior to student teaching all general education and professional courses must be completed.  You must apply for both internship and student teaching one year in advance.  Please be aware that there is a seminar that accompanies your student teaching experience. 

Applying for Certification

You will have the opportunity to apply for certification during your student teaching seminar the last semester in your program.  The certification officer will walk you through the process, so please do not complete the forms prior to receiving directions.  Students must have earned a Bachelor’s degree and the degree must be posted on your transcripts prior to the submission of certification paperwork by the certification officer at Roosevelt.  Therefore, there may be a short delay between the completion of student teaching and the posting of degrees on your transcript.  During this time you are able to apply for positions marking your application “degree pending”.  For further information, please see the certification webpage on the Roosevelt University College of Education site  click here.