Middle Grade Language Arts

Any teacher candidate applying for an initial IL teaching license and seeking a subsequent middle grade English Language Arts endorsement to be added to an elementary or high school Professional Educator License will need to meet Illinois middle grade English Language Arts requirements of

18 semester hours, including ENG 325, the two-hour methods course,
pass the middle level English Language Arts content exam. (this is in-addition to the elementary or secondary content area tests)

Any English Language Arts course counted toward the middle grade endorsement must have a final grade of C- or higher.

Required Courses

ENG 325 Methods of Teaching Middle School English Language Arts (2 hrs.)
Elementary Ed Majors: take the spring after student teaching (recommended)
Secondary Ed Majors: take the same semester as ENG 342 (High School Methods)

Highly Recommended

ENG 429x (EDUC 498) Literacy Assessment (2 hrs.), offered spring semester after student teaching.
ENGL 328 Young Adult Literature (4 hrs.)

Additional Course Options

Any course in Literature, Composition, Speech, Rhetoric, or Journalism counts towards 18 required hours for the English Language Arts middle grade endorsement. Christ at the Core general education requirements from these areas also count toward this endorsement. Some Linguistics courses count towards the English language arts endorsement, specifically LING 222 and 328.

Practica Options

Students who already know by sophomore year that they are majoring in English and Secondary Education or are getting the Middle School English Language Arts Endorsement should be placed in a middle school for their 225L practicum.
If not placed in a middle school for 225L, students have the option of taking the Middle Grade Practicum 405L/507L or of student teaching in a middle school to fulfill the requirements of the middle grade endorsement.