Our nationally-certified program will prepare you to teach in a variety of classroom settings: self-contained classrooms as well as departmentalized and team teaching situations. You will have many opportunities to observe and to work with children in the field, as well as experience a full semester of student teaching.

Graduates of the elementary education program will be licensed by the State of Illinois to teach children in grades 1 through 6 in public and private settings, with reciprocity in most of the United States and in some foreign countries. Our elementary education majors are well prepared to accept jobs in self-contained classrooms at the elementary level. We have designed our curriculum to match the educational courses with the field experiences so that you will use in the 1 through 6 classroom what you have learned in the university classroom. In addition to preparing you to teach the content and skills in the areas of mathematics, science, social sciences, writing, reading, and literature, our program will include courses that cover the following important areas: Teaching English language learners (ELL); Effectively integrating technology into the lessons; Aligning lessons with the Illinois Common Core Standards; Teaching reading of fictional and informational texts.

OFF-CAMPUS PROGRAMS

In addition to our on-campus programs, the Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education is also offered at the following off-campus sites, contingent upon adequate enrollment at the site.