Early Childhood Education Degree in Illinois - Best Programs for 2025

What is Early Childhood Education?

Those interested in a career in education and, specifically, if you want to work with young children, then you'll want to pursue a degree in childhood education. This area of education became recognized as highly beneficial because of research compiled by various governmental organizations and the Department of Education. The studies all demonstrated that the earliest years of a child can be the most critical to developing their learning ability.

Based on information put out by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), it is believed that early childhood education is going to be one of the fastest growing segments of the workforce over the next few years. In fact, some evidence suggests that it could have a growth rate of as much as 20%, which would make it one of the fastest growing segments of the workforce in the US. Teachers who want to follow this career path would want to get at least a bachelor's degree in an area of early childhood education.

How to Become an Early Childhood Education Teacher in Illinois

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Steps to Become an Early Childhood Education Teacher in Illinois

In order to lead an early childhood education classroom, it will be necessary to earn a teacher's license and meet other qualifications required by the state. For those who want to have the greatest chance of upward mobility, it might also be necessary to earn their master's degree. A postgraduate degree in early childhood education can allow the individual to specialize and these specializations will give you a choice of educator positions.

Step 1. Successfully Complete A State-Approved Preparation Program

Illinois requires that all preschool teachers successfully complete a preparation program approved by the state. This means that you must meet all the teaching requirements and complete the coursework within the program. At a minimum, you will need to earn a bachelor's degree in early childhood education. Depending on the program that you choose to complete it could also result in earning an M.Ed. or an M.A.T. degree. There's also an option that could result in a post-baccalaureate certificate that is not a degree, but this is only a possibility for those who already have a bachelor's degree but haven't completed a teacher preparation program.

Find Your Online Early Childhood Education Program

At this time, there are over two dozen educator preparation programs offered in Illinois in the area of early childhood education. To be able to work with children from the ages of birth to grade 3, it will be necessary to successfully navigate one of these childhood teacher preparation programs to get your teaching license in the state. The state requires that you graduate from a program with a minimum grade average of C or better to be approved for your licensure.

Before starting any bachelor's program in early education, make certain that it meets the Illinois Early Learning and Development Standards also known as (IELDS). These programs are made so that they can achieve reasonable expectations in the growth, development, and learning of preschool students. All of the state approved programs will meet these standards.

When you enter a degree program in early childhood education the state requires that it include these minimum components:

Bachelor's Degree
- The degree must be from a regionally accredited University or college.
- The Degree must meet the required standards
- The degree must have included a minimum of 30 semester hours specifically in the field of early childhood education.
Gain Experience
A teacher has to gain experience; this is often accomplished by working as an aid in the field of education. There are several different options available to a person that is aspiring to become a preschool or early childhood educator to gain the required experience.

Some of these choices include:
- Become a teacher’s assistant
- Work at a day care
- Be a coach
- Tutoring
- Be a substitute teacher
Additional Requirements
To qualify an individual will need to complete three semester hours of cross-categorical methods of the exceptional child, 3 semester hours in English as a second language, and 6 semester hours for methods of teaching reading. It may also be necessary to take T.A.P., which further tests your knowledge of mathematics, language arts, writing, and reading comprehension. If you have taken the SAT, ACT, or GRE with satisfactory scores then you will usually not have to take TAP.
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Step 2. Content Examination In ECE

Once you have completed all the steps and successfully finished the preparation program you will then need to pass the ‘Content Examination’ for early childhood education. This will be administered by the Illinois Licensure Testing System (ILTS). Test 107 is an examination in early childhood education and is computer-based.

This exam will have a total of 125 questions that are multiple choice. You are given a time limit of 3 hours 45 minutes to finish the examination. You will need to pay a fee of $135 that covers all the tests. In the state, there are 30 approved testing centers.

The ILTS offers preparation materials that can be used to study for the examination. It is advised that you use these materials and put in the necessary preparation time before taking the exam. If you were to fail, you would need to pay to retest and there may be some delay between when you took the exam the first time and when you can again.

Step 3. Get Your Professional Educator License

Once you have successfully completed the preparation program, the university or college you attended will let the Board of Education know through the Educator Licensure Information System (ELIS). They will inform them that you now qualify to receive your professional educator license. The name of this process is called ‘Entitlement’.

When the Board of Education receives this information, notifying them of the fact that you have indeed completed all the necessary coursework and other requirements that ‘Entitle’ you to an Illinois educator license, you will be able to apply for licensure through their website. You will find that there is a badge on your ELIS home screen and this is when you should put in your application. It will be necessary for you to click on that badge and subsequently submit the application along with its required fee in order to get your professional educator license.

Step 4. Officially Register Your license

Even if you get your license it still won't be valid until you register it. You'll need to do this at the Regional Superintendent of Schools in the area in which you work and live. There is a fee of $50 to complete the registration and the license will then be valid for 5 years. It isn't valid until the registration is completed.

You will want to log into your ELIS account to pay the fee and register it there. It will be necessary to give them evidence that you have completed the appropriate professional development and that proof needs to go to the Regional Office of Education. Your degree is the determining factor of the required professional development. Those who have a bachelor's degree need at least 120 hours. Those with a master's degree needed at least 80 hours. The advanced degrees require 40 hours as does the national board certification.

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