AVAILABLE FOR PERSONS WHO HAVE COMPLETED MASTER’S DEGREES IN COUNSELING OR A RELATED FIELD AND WHO DESIRE TO COMPLETE STATE AND UNIVERSITY REQUIREMENTS FOR A PROFESSIONAL EDUCATOR LICENSE WITH AN ENDORSEMENT IN SCHOOL COUNSELING TO WORK AS A SCHOOL COUNSELOR IN ILLINOIS
WHAT
More than 120 participants have successfully participated in the Institute.
The Institute is an INTENSE program. It consists of readings, discussions, lectures, guest speakers, field experiences, interviews, projects, reports, and experiential activities packaged into five weekends in the Spring (one each month) and two-full-weeks in the Summer (July). Students will be required to attend ALL components of the Institute and have materials and assignments prepared according to the due dates. Participants must understand the intense nature of this program and be prepared to do a great deal of reading, writing, collaborating, and preparing of assignments. A candidate for the Institute must consider how to balance this with family and work obligations before entering the Institute.
The curriculum for the Institute has been carefully developed to meet the requirements in two areas: school counseling preparation and teaching preparation. Students completing the Institute will have met the equivalency of the four classes required in the school counseling specialization for a master’s degree: counseling children; consultation and developmental school counseling programs; postsecondary and college planning for school counselors; and school counseling issues, programs, and practices. The curriculum will also cover the requirements for classroom management, curriculum and climate in school settings, and adolescent/child development.
The Institute will NOT cover the specific requirement from ISBE addressing the special populations of Illinois students and the laws and programs that meet their needs, or other course work that might be deficient on a student’s transcript. Therefore, other coursework may need to be completed for endorsement. All students will have a review of their transcripts made before being admitted into the Institute.
Finally, the Institute will NOT cover the State required Internship at a school setting. Students completing the Institute will take Internship in the academic fall or spring semester, following successful completion of all requirements for the Institute. Students will have to locate their own internship site and follow all the rules for completing the Internship class at NIU. This requirement involves a separate cost for tuition and fees. The internship is a 400 clock-hour experience that is done in a school setting under a field supervisor who has a Professor Educator License with an endorsement in School Counseling and has been in the field for 2 years. The internship is required of all candidates, even if previous internships were completed or completed in a school setting. HINT: Once you know you are admitted into the Institute, you should immediately begin to identify an internship site for the following year.