Findings: High school preparation
In general, Illinois' current regulatory structure for the preparation of secondary teachers requires adequate preparation for teachers in English and math but highly inadequate preparation for teachers in the sciences and social sciences.
For example, secondary candidates at Eastern Illinois University can earn a "science certificate with earth sciences" specialization in preparation to teach biology, chemistry, physics or earth science with three biology courses, three chemistry courses and five earth sciences courses. This total of 11 courses includes no physics, inadequate preparation in biology and chemistry, and only a minor in earth science. Greenville College's social science track preparing candidates to teach history, government, economics, geography or psychology entails eight history courses, one political science course, one economics course, one geography course, two sociology courses and one psychology course. The total is 14 courses, but preparation in no subject except history even approaches adequacy.
Only one of the reviewed undergraduate secondary programs (Northwestern University) met our standard. It did so by requiring majors and nearly two additional minors in the sciences and social sciences as well as having adequate preparation requirements in English and mathematics. (Principia College also met the standard, but only by virtue of the fact that it offers secondary certification just in English and math.) Two graduate secondary programs (Illinois Institute of Technology and Roosevelt University) did so as well.
How Illinois institutions fare on this standard
