The Dominican University educator is committed to scholarship, leadership and service. A teacher educated in the Catholic, Dominican tradition is a scholar who possesses an insatiable intellectual curiosity, self-discipline and perseverance. Dominican scholarship prepares a pre-service teacher to become a lifelong learner and to share the fruits of rigorous study with his/her students.

The Dominican educator is an instructional leader who values service and collaborates with others in teaching and learning, enabling others to achieve their individual and common goals. These values are presented and modeled in professional education classes. The Dominican educator is a skilled practitioner who creates learning communities among students and uses appropriate instructional strategies to increase achievement for all students. Pre-service teachers acquire these skills in professional education courses and clinical experiences. Candidates in the undergraduate education program at Dominican University are scholars and leaders committed to serving others.

CERTIFICATION PROGRAMS

Dominican University is approved by the Illinois Teacher Certification Board to prepare preservice teachers for certification in the following programs:

• Early Childhood Education (birth to eight years) - see Early Childhood Education
• Elementary (K to nine)
• Secondary (six to 12)
• Art (K to 12)
• Special Education

CHANGES IN TEACHER CERTIFICATION

Presently, the Illinois State Board of Education is
changing requirements for teacher certification
that reflect national trends toward a more
rigorous performance-based assessment in
contrast to course-based certification. This
means that requirements in the programs
leading to certification are subject to change to
meet the state’s requirements.

ELEMENTARY EDUCATION

This program has three basic elements.

• General education competencies: selected courses in the liberal arts and sciences curriculum.
• A major selected from one of the following disciplines: American studies, biology, chemistry, English, Italian, mathematics, philosophy, French, history, political science, sociology or Spanish.
• Professional education courses, providing the content, skills and clinical experience needed for teaching in grades K through nine.

The following courses are required:

• Foundations of Education
• History and Philosophy of American Education or History and Philosophy of Childhood Education
• Educational Psychology or Child Growth and Development
• Reading and the Other Language Arts
• Education in a Diverse Society
• Survey of Exceptional Youth
• Collaboration and Adaptation in General- Educational Settings
• Integrating Technology into the Curriculum
• Content-Area Reading, Social Studies and Assessment
• Mathematics and Science for the Elementary and Middle School Teacher
• Clinical Practice, Elementary and Middle
• Clinical Practice Seminar, Elementary and Middle Education

Candidates may receive credit from another institution for one, but not both, of the educational foundations courses (History and Philosophy of Education and Educational Psychology).

SECONDARY EDUCATION

This program has three basic elements:

• General education competencies:
  selected courses in the liberal arts and sciences curriculum
• A major selected from one of the following disciplines:
  art, biology, chemistry, English, French, history, Italian, mathematics, social science or Spanish
• Professional education courses, providing the content, skills and clinical experience needed for teaching in grades six through 12.

The following courses are required:

• Foundations of Education
• History and Philosophy of American Education*
• Integrating Technology Into the Curriculum
• Education in a Diverse Society
• Survey of Exceptional Youth
• Educational Psychology
• Assessment
• Instructional Strategies in Teaching (for a specific discipline)
• Clinical Practice, Secondary
• Clinical Practice Seminar, Secondary

Candidates may receive credit from another
institution for one, but not both, of the
educational foundations courses (History
and Philosophy of Education or Adolescent
Development and Learning Theory).

Thirty-two semester hours are required in a
given field to teach a major. Questions
regarding endorsements should be directed
to an education adviser.

SPECIAL EDUCATION

This program combines an undergraduate degree, BA or BS, with an MS degree in special education and a Type 10 certificate to be completed in approximately five years. The candidate takes the following courses:

• Foundations of Education
• History and Philosophy of American Education
• Survey of Exceptional Youth
• Educational Psychology

A candidate must apply for the BA/MSPED or BS/MSPED no later than the second semester of the junior year. An overall GPA of 3.0 or higher is required for acceptance into this program. Once accepted into the combined program, the candidate is eligible to take two graduate-level courses in the senior year. The remainder of the program is completed after graduation from the undergraduate college.