SXU's School of Education's Middle School Curriculum is among first approved by Illinois Board of Education

Are you an education major? Do you want to make yourself more marketable in the job market? If so, consider the new middle school teacher curriculum created by Saint Xavier University’s (SXU) School of Education (SOE), which was approved by the Illinois Board of Education recently with enrollment scheduled for fall of 2015. SXU’s SOE was among the first in the state of Illinois to get approval, along with just one other school.

Several of SXU’s SOE professors conducted vast research to stay up to speed with the state’s new middle school licensure range, which must be fully implemented by 2018. Two new tracks and many courses were created to complement the licensure range making SXU’s SOE graduates very marketable and useful to principals because both tracks will consist of double majors.

The first track, in Social Studies and Language Arts, will also automatically include a reading endorsement. Professor Maureen Spelman says that through her research, she learned that principals often cannot fit a reading specialist into their budgets, so future SXU graduates able to teach the full range of Social Studies, Language Arts, and reading will be useful to principals.

The second track places middle school math and science together. SXU graduates from this track will be qualified to teach all middle school math and science classes, also making them hirable because of their immense usefulness to principals.

These new tracks are available now and prospective students declaring to be a mid-level education major should contact SXU’s SOE for enrollment in the fall of 2015.

Faculty from the SOE worked closely with Arts and Sciences to create new courses and determine which existing courses already fit with the core standards criteria.

SXU’s new middle school licensure programs are modeled after the National Boards, according to Professor Spelman, and the programs reflect the higher bar the state has raised on expectations and rigor. The number of credits in the program is now 21, up four from the previous program, and ACT requirements are also stricter.

All in all, SXU’s SOE submitted five proposals to the state. Each was enormous, including detailed rationales and course descriptions. All five were approved. Professors Spelman, Bell, Lee, and Lunden worked tirelessly on the proposals, with no course releases, to give SXU a head start among teacher-educator programs in the state. “Other schools have contacted us to ask for advice on the rigorous process,” Spelman said.

In addition to the undergraduate licensure programs, SXU also plans to be the first Illinois University to offer an online graduate licensure program to start in August, 2015. This program is ideal for those seeking a career change or for those living in an area where attending regular classes is not feasible. The online program is identical to the in-person program but will require students to only be on campus for two weekends.