General Requirements | Entry Points

• Students are responsible for meeting the program and College requirements in effect at the time they officially register in a teacher education program leading to licensure at Chicago State University, regardless of when they were admitted to the university.
• Credit towards required courses in the program will only be awarded for grades of C or higher.
• Submit proof that undergraduate coursework meets a minimum grade of C threshold in the following general education requirements:
  • Three credit hours in each of composition I & II, speech, college-level mathematics, Art Appreciation, Political Science, U.S. History, Geography, biological science, physical science, earth/space science (at least one science course must include a laboratory). General Education course requirements for licensure are subject to change by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE). 
  • One course which incorporates multicultural or global perspectives.
• There are five “Entry Points” integrated into the curriculum plan of study designed to ensure that students meet and/or exceed program competencies and requirements necessary to move forward.

Program Completion and Degree Requirements

• Program completion and degree requirements include courses identified to meet content area designation requirements, as approved by the program and the Office of Teacher Licensure in consultation with the department for the specified content area designation.
• All student teachers will demonstrate they have met the Illinois Professional Teaching Standards, including mastery of the content knowledge as evidenced by a passing score on the Illinois Licensure Testing System content area test. Candidates for licensure must also successfully complete a Candidate Work Sample / Teacher Performance Assessment (edTPA) professional portfolio by the National Board for Professional Teachers.
• All course and program requirements must be completed within six years.
• Candidates must abide by all College policies stated in this catalog, unless exceptions or adherence to higher expectations are noted in program documentation.
• General program completion and graduation requirements include completing an application to complete the program with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.00 in all required and elective courses in professional education and the designated content area, as well as completion of the following addition licensure requirements:
  • Pre-clinical and clinical fieldwork forms documenting 100 clock hours are submitted to the Office of Field Placement.
  • Student Teaching Clinical Experiences successfully completed. 
  • All College of Education and Program Assessments submitted in the Tevera courseware domain, including the Candidate Work Sample (edTPA) Capstone Project and Professional Portfolio.
    
    
• Illinois State Board of Education licensure examination / assessments, including the Content Area Test in the discipline. Proof of passing must be submitted to the academic program by announced due dates PRIOR to permission given to register for the final Student Teaching clinical experience course.
  • Spring Semester Student Teaching - October 15th in the prior Fall Semester as part of the Application for Student Teaching Process.
    
    
  • Fall Semester Student Teaching - March 15th* in the prior Spring Semester as part of the Application for Student Teaching Process.
    * Extensions to June 30th can be granted with program approval.
    
    
  • All requirements are met for state licensure as mandated by the Illinois State Board of Education, in consultation with the Office of Teacher Licensure. After a transcript analysis is completed by the Office of Teacher Licensure, the candidate may be required to provide proof of completion of undergraduate level coursework [i.e. 32 credit hours in the content area designation plus child psychology, educational psychology, and/or other state mandated professional education requirements] to meet licensure requirements.

General Requirements for Music Teacher Preparation, PK-12 Option

Students must:

• register and participate in MUSM 1800    during the fall and spring semesters while enrolled full or part-time at the university.
• register and participate in either the university concert band if an instrumental major, or the concert choir if a vocal major, during the fall and spring semesters while enrolled full time at the university. Piano and guitar majors may choose between concert band or concert choir.
• perform a senior recital, which must be a minimum of 25 minutes of music. Four weeks before the recital, the student must successfully complete a recital hearing for a minimum of two music faculty.
• pass an exit piano proficiency examination before student teaching.
• a grade of C or above is required in all general education, professional education and music courses, either as transfer credit or completed at Chicago State University. A grade of B or above is required in student teaching.
• a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.0 in all program course work, either as transfer credit or completed at Chicago State University, is required for admission to the College of Education.
• enrollment in Student Teaching (MUSM 4076 ) requires successful completion of the Music Licensure Content Area Test (P-12). The final grade for Student Teaching requires successful completion of the edTPA.
• complete 123 credit hours: 39 combined credit hours in general education, 61 credit hours in music specialization, and 24 credit hours/100 field hours in professional education.