The Bachelor of Science in Education (B.S. Ed.) degree in elementary education qualifies students for an Illinois Elementary Teacher’s Certificate which enables them to teach in kindergarten through ninth grade. Students seeking an elementary teaching certificate who wish to teach in departmentalized grades five through eight must have a “middle grade” (commonly called middle school) endorsement on their certificates. An endorsement is a written notation entered upon the face of a teaching certificate designating additional specific subjects which an individual is qualified to teach.
Elementary education majors are encouraged to consider completing middle school endorsements to add to their marketability. Currently in the state of Illinois, there is a shortage of middle school teachers qualified to teach mathematics, science, and Spanish.
In order to be eligible for a middle school endorsement added to an elementary teacher’s certificate, students must do the following:
| History Political Science Anthropology Geography* Economics Psychology Sociology |
Social Science |
| English | Language Arts |
| Foreign Language | |
| Art | Art |
| Music | Music |
| Theatre | Theatre |
| Biology | Biological Science |
| Chemistry Geography* Geology Physics |
Physical Science |
| Mathematics | Mathematics** |
| General Science | Combination of biological and physical sciences |
* Please note that some geography courses count as science, some as social science.
** The endorsement in mathematics requires very specific courses which include different languages of mathematics. Please check with the Mathematics department.