Middle Grades Education Major

Major requirements

This program is designed for teacher education candidates who are planning to teach in the middle grades (grade 5-8) in one of the following content areas: Literacy, Mathematics, Science, or Social Science. A candidate successfully completing a program within the selected Content Pathway would be eligible to obtain an Illinois Professional Educator License endorsed in grades 5-8 in that content area.

Course requirements

The curriculum sequence is sequenced in six professional blocks:

Professional Block 1: EDUC 2120, EDUC 2140

Professional Block 2: EDUC 2130, EDUC 2145

Professional Block 3; EDUC 3011, EDUC 3015, EDUC 3130, EDUC 3430, EDUC 3510, EDUC 3510 (taken two times)

Professional Blocks 4 and 5:
Math – EDUC 3315, EDUC 3380, EDUC 3381, EDUC 3520
English – EDUC 3310, EDUC 3356, EDUC 3357, EDUC 3520
Science – EDUC 3315, EDUC 3230, EDUC 3231, EDUC 3520
Social Studies – EDUC 3315, EDUC 3240, EDUC 3241, EDUC 3520
(*All take one section of EDUC 3520)

Professional Block 6: EDUC 4130, EDUC 4600

Candidates who complete the requirements for a middle grades program and endorsement will need to choose and complete 18-24 semester hours in content-area coursework for one or more of the following content areas.

Literacy Content Pathway Required Content Categories

American Literature
British Literature
World Literature
Communications
Adolescent Literature
Additional Content Pathways Courses

Mathematics Content Pathway Required Content Categories

Statistics
Calculus
Discrete Mathematics
Geometry

Science Content Pathway Required Content Categories

Biology
Chemistry
Physics
Astronomy
Environmental Science

Social Science Content Pathway Required Content Categories

United States History
World History
American Government
Economics

All Middle Grades Education candidates should meet with an advisor in the School of Education to determine the correct sequence of courses that will satisfy the content course requirements of their chosen Content Pathway.

Transfer and license-only candidates should consult with School of Education faculty and advisors to ensure that courses taken at other colleges and universities satisfy Illinois requirements for licensure within each Content Pathway.