Prior to and during student teaching seminars, the Assistant Dean for Student Support & Licensure will explain the requirements and documentation needed to earn a PEL. All inquiries related to licensure and endorsements should be directed to the Assistant Dean for Student Support & Licensure.
To earn a PEL, candidates must receive a grade of C- or higher in student teaching. In addition, all candidates are required to take and pass the content exam(s). Note: The Illinois State Board of Education has waived the edTPA performance assessment for the 2022-23 academic year (i.e., through the Spring 2023 semester). All requirements for licensure must be completed in order for student teachers to be granted entitlement for licensure from Roosevelt University.
If a grade below C- is earned in student teaching, teacher candidates can apply to re-enroll. However, before a placement will be made, a Student Performance Review will be held.
Note: The edTPA has been waived by Gubernatorial Disaster Proclamation through the 22-23 academic year.
Effective Sept. 1, 2015, all teacher candidates in Illinois must pass the edTPA to be entitled to licensure. The edTPA, an evidence-based assessment designed to measure the teacher candidate’s competency, was developed by Stanford University with the help of teachers and teacher educators across the country. Aligned with Common Core State Standards and the Danielson model, the edTPA is a portfolio project that requires the teacher candidate to document and reflect on student learning through the various stages of teaching.
To be entitled for licensure in Illinois, teacher candidates must receive a passing score on the edTPA as designated by ISBE. The current cut score for Illinois is 39.
To date, all Roosevelt teacher candidates have passed the edTPA, but occasionally candidates either need to retake part or all of edTPA. Based on the candidate’s score profile and required performance standard, they can choose to retake either the entire edTPA or retake one or more of the required tasks. Candidates who do not meet the required cut score should contact the Assistant Dean for Student Services & Licensure to make a remediation plan for addressing the deficits.
Prior to conducting a job search, candidates should contact the Office of Career Development for assistance and support with the creation of resumes and other materials useful for employment purposes. The Office of Career Development website has useful advice for the job search process. Additional advice is available at https://cps.edu/careers/pages/careers.aspx.
Student teachers seeking employment or entrance into graduate school frequently ask cooperating teachers, supervisors and other Roosevelt faculty to write letters of recommendation for their placement files or to send directly to potential employers. Although all of these individuals are not required to write letters of recommendation, they generally do because they realize that school personnel directors and other school administrators consider their recommendations important. Student teachers should provide individuals who agree to write a recommendation with a resume, digital directions, or a stamped envelope, and any additional information that might be helpful to the process. In addition, they should ask for a letter of recommendation at least four weeks in advance of any hard deadline.
Student teachers are encouraged to request recommendation letters from school leaders at their placement sites. To facilitate the writing of these letters, student teachers should invite school leaders to observe their teaching during their final weeks of student teaching and provide them with as much support and information as possible. It is especially important to provide school leaders with ample time for the completion of their letter.
At the conclusion of student teaching, student teachers are asked to complete online evaluation forms. Please be on the lookout for these forms and complete them ASAP in order to provide your university supervisors and the Department with useful feedback and perspective.
In addition, the Illinois State Board of Education requires all applicants for teacher licensure to complete an exit survey prior to receiving a Professional Educator License. Again, please be on the lookout for this survey and complete it ASAP.
Near the conclusion of the semester, the Department of Teacher Preparation hosts an honor ceremony for all students graduating from the department. Typically, the event is held on Zoom to facilitate maximum participation. Cooperating teachers, students and their families, university faculty, and university supervisors are invited to attend. Information about the date and time will be communicated during the student teaching experience.