This website has been prepared with two objects in mind: 1) to help secondary education candidates prepare for the Illinois Teacher Certification Test, and 2) to provide teaching resources for candidates who take teaching positions in the state and may be asked to teach Illinois history and government.
The links in the left margin will provide you with access to all the resources on this site. Perhaps the first page to look at is the ISBE (Illinois State Board of Education) Social Science and History standards. These define what the competent social science teacher in Illinois understands and is able to do. Questions on the teacher certification test will be based on these standards.
The teacher candidate may use any or all of several optional approaches to learning about Illinois history and government. They are:
Internet Resources: these sites have a wealth of information and are generally kept up to date. This is probably the best source of information since a number of sites can be accessed. These sites have been annotated and prioritized.
Illinois Government Handbook: this free book is issued by the Illinois Secretary of State and contains a great deal of inofrmation in print form. While this booklet is informative, it does not meet all the standards of the ISBE.
Buswell Library Resources: these consist mainly of a set of twelve 30 minute videos that have been produced by Western Illinois University. These were produced about 10 years ago and contain much content beyond that needed for ISBE standards.
The site also contains a number of printouts such as a time line as well as some charts and diagams. Thse are supplemental to the above resources.
Finally, the site contains a self-administered test with questions based on the ISBE standards. an answer sheet can be printed out and sent by college mail to the History Department (Attn: Jack Scott). This will also act as a certificate validating your completion of this course. Your score plus explanations of incorrect answers plus references to where you can find correct information will be returned to you within one week of recieving your answer sheet.
We hope this site will enable you to easily and efficiently access the information you need and gain the competence necessary to pass the certification test. Please respond with any suggestions or feedback that you think will be helpful in fine-tuning this program.
Contact: Jack Scott
Phone: 630.752.5130
For comic relief - Roadside Illinois >> (There are similar sites for each of the 50 states. Click on your home state and see what you can find. This stuff is harmless but cool!)