Middle Grade Social Science

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

18 semester hours in the social sciences, including HIST 325, the two-hour methods course
Pass the middle level social science content exam. (this is in-addition to the elementary or secondary content area tests)

Illinois no longer designates coursework to meet the middle grade social science endorsement requirements. Any history or social science course counted toward the middle grade endorsement must have a final grade of C- or higher.

Recommended courses

HIST 102 or 103 Exploring the Global Past or Exploring the American Past (4 hrs.)
HIST 251 or 252 American History to 1865 and from 1865 (4 hrs.)
ECON 211 Principles of Microeconomics (4 hrs.)
PSCI 135 American Politics and Government (4 hrs.)
GEOG 211 General Geography (2 hrs. offered in fall)
HIST 325 Methods of Teaching Middle Grade History/SSCI (2 hrs. offered in spring- Elementary take this course the Spring after their student teaching placement)
SSCI 321 Elementary and Middle School Curricular Themes in Social Science (2 hrs. Elementary Education majors only, taken during elementary methods block)

Practica Options

Students who already know by sophomore year that they are majoring in History and Secondary Education or are getting the Middle School Social Science 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.