Secondary English Major

This program provides undergraduate students with a robust and appropriate set of courses that will prepare them for teaching in the high school setting. The English major will prepare students for the state of Illinois Professional Educator License (PEL) with a Secondary Subject-Matter Endorsement.

This program and its associated major, minor, and concentration coursework is offered in both blended and online formats. 

Program Learning Outcomes:

PLO1. Apply knowledge of self, students, curriculum, content, and effective instruction to develop appropriate learning outcomes and design activities that meet diverse learner needs, including racial, ethnic, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds.

PLO2. Develop formative and summative assessments to engage learners in their own growth, monitor learner progress, and use data to guide the teacher's and learner’s decision-making.

PLO3. Demonstrate practices that view and value students as individuals within the context of their families and communities, and demonstrate respectful and responsive interactions with students that motivate, support, and advance their development and learning.

PLO4. Establish an asset-based learning environment of high expectations that centers learning around students’ experiences and positions them as co-creators, disrupting previously held beliefs or models of education that have underserved historically marginalized students.

PLO5. Engage students in learning through effective use of intentionally selected technologies, emphasizing flexibility and adaptability in the use of digital tools.

PLO6. Use feedback from a variety of stakeholders to continuously improve professional practice. PLO7. Develop information literacy and civic-mindedness in students through explicit instruction in the evaluation of sources, critical analysis, and authentic application.

PLO8. Use culturally responsive communication to collaborate with colleagues, families, and community members toward the goal of sharing responsibility for student success and well-being.

PLO9. Demonstrate culturally responsive methodologies of English and Literacy instruction in middle and secondary grade classrooms, including supporting students who are learning to read in a new or second language. 

Admissions Requirements:

Admission to the B.A in Secondary Education program is a two-step process. In the first step, students are admitted to National Louis University with a preliminary admission status in the B.A in Secondary Education program. In the second step, students must be admitted to the licensure program which updates the admission to fully admitted status in the B.A in Secondary Education program. Students must be admitted to the licensure program before beginning their Student Teaching in Secondary Education course (SEC 470). 

Program Details:

• Requires 180 QH including 70 QH of General Education for completion
• Requires completion of all courses in the program with a grade of "C" or better, with the exception of SEC 470, which must be completed with a grade of "B" or better
• Demonstrate a 3.0 GPA or greater on a 4.0 scale
• Requires completion of the following courses at NLU: EAL 412, EDU 351, SEC 401, SEC 405, SEC 411, and SEC 470
• Requires successful completion of necessary program assessments, including the professional disposition assessment
• Credit for Prior Learning may be accepted for EDU 200
• Candidates are required to complete Educator Preparation English Minor as part of the Secondary Education degree requirements in order to qualify for English endorsement 
• Candidates may complete one of the concentrations listed below:
  • ESL/Bilingual Education
  • Special Education

Required Courses

General Education Requirements

Communications

The following courses are recommended:

ENG 101	Beginning English Composition	5
ENG 201	Intermediate English	5
ENG 203	Effective Speaking for the Undergraduate	5

Note: Students transferring credit from other institutions or applying coursework previously completed at NLU may use any three general education courses in the following disciplines: academic writing, oral communications, and any course in the area of communications.

 

Humanities and Fine Arts

ART 105	Race, Identity and Experience in American Art	5
HIS 103	History Across the Globe	5

Note: Students transferring credit from other institutions or applying coursework previously completed at NLU may use any two general education courses in the following disciplines:  

• Humanities: foreign language, history, literature, philosophy, religious studies, interdisciplinary humanities and fine arts, interdisciplinary humanities and social sciences

• Fine Arts: visual arts (including art history, art appreciation, and studio arts, such as drawing, painting, digital art, or film), film and cinema studies, and performing arts (including music appreciation, music theory, and music performance, theatre appreciation and performance, and dance) 

 

Mathematics and Natural Sciences

Choose three courses from the list below (one must be math and one must be a natural science):

MTH 101	Introduction to Mathematical Concepts	5
MTH 102	Statistical Foundations	5
MTH 103	Precalculus/Integrated Math Concepts	5
SCI 101	Physical Science	5
SCI 105	Environmental Biology with Lab	5

Note: Students transferring credit from other institutions or applying coursework previously completed at NLU may use any three general education courses in the following disciplines: 

• Mathematics: college-level and not developmental in nature
• Natural Sciences: physics, chemistry, earth science, astronomy, geology, physical geography, biology, human anatomy and physiology, microbiology, genetics, botany and zoology; and interdisciplinary fields such as environmental science, and ecology and conservation
• Mathematics or Natural Sciences

 

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Choose two courses from the list below:

HIS 102	Civics and American Government	5
EDU 200	Applied Educational Psychology	5

Note: Students transferring credit from other institutions or applying coursework previously completed at NLU may use any two general education courses in the area of Social and Behavioral Sciences in the following disciplines: anthropology, economics, geography, history, human geography, political science, psychology, sociology, interdisciplinary social/behavioral science, interdisciplinary humanities and social and behavioral science.

 

Program Specific General Education Requirements

 

ENG 101	Beginning English Composition	5
ENG 201	Intermediate English	5
EDU 220	Children’s Literature for Educators	5
EDU 305	Equity in Education	5

 

Career Development Requirements

First-time Freshman

CAR 214	Creating and Communicating the Professional Brand	5
GEN 103	Student Success Seminar	5

Program Requirements - 60 QH

EAL 400	Educational Foundations for Learning English as an Additional Language	5
EAL 412	Reading in a New Language: Linguistic Considerations	5
EDU 210	Educational Philosophy- A Historical Account	5
EDU 301	Adolescent Development	5
EDU 351	Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment in Middle and Secondary Education	5
ENG 425	Literary Criticism and Analysis	5
SEC 401	Methods of Teaching English in Middle and Secondary Education	5
SEC 405	Methods of Teaching Literacy in Middle and Secondary Education	5
SEC 411	Culturally Responsive Pedagogy in Secondary English/Practicum	5
SEC 470	Student Teaching in Secondary Education	10
SPE 401	Introduction to Special Education and Methods of Teaching Students with Disabilities	5

Educator Preparation English Minor - 30 QH

ENG 300	American Literature to 1865	5
ENG 301	Advanced English Composition	5
ENG 310	American Literature 1865 to Present	5
ENG 320	Latinx Literature	5
ENG 330	British Literature	5
ENG 340	Literature of the Black Diaspora	5

Secondary Education Student Teaching Enrollment Requirements

Admission to and continuance in student teaching are contingent on the following actions.
Candidates must:

• Be accepted into the Undergraduate College of Educator Preparation Licensure Program (see above).
• File, by the designated deadline, the application form for student teaching.
• Submit to the Undergraduate Office of Field Experience a report of a TB test taken within 90 days of the student teaching placement, results of a criminal background check and acknowledgement of the Mandated Reporter status form.
• Pass the Secondary Education Content Area Tests prior to SEC 411, per ISBE requirements.
• Complete all of the licensure courses except for SEC 470 (Student Teaching) with a grade of "C" or better.
• Successfully complete necessary program assessments, including the professional disposition assessment.

Graduation and Licensure Requirements:

Completion of the degree requires the following be met:

• All courses leading to licensure must have a grade of "C" or better, except for SEC 470: Student Teaching.
• Pass SEC 470: Student Teaching with a "B" or better.
• Have an overall program GPA of 3.0.
• Achieve a satisfactory rating on all field assessments during student teaching demonstrating knowledge, skills and dispositions to teach Secondary Education.

Completion of the Professional Educator License, awarded by ISBE, requires the above, as well as the following:

• Earn a passing score on the appropriate content test.
• Earn a passing score on the edTPA.