Professional Development Schools
Financial Aid and Student Employment
For more specific information about the Secondary Level Teacher Education Program view the Undergraduate Catalog.
Year-Long Opportunities
Year-Long Opportunities
Secondary PDS Experience
The PDS program offers senior education students at Illinois State University a year-long experience in a public school that replaces the 16-week student-teaching semester. Interns are able to experience an entire year of school, from classroom setup through end of the year activities. During the first semester of the senior year, the intern completes his or her professional coursework and clinical experiences at the PDS site. During the second semester, the Illinois state student assumes responsibility for planning and instruction as a student teacher.
Two sites are available for secondary education students interested in pursuing a year long experience. Peoria Woodruff began as a PDS in the Fall 2006, and Unit 5 school district, including Normal Community High School and Normal West High School, joined the University as a PDS in Fall 2007.
During the first semester of the internship program, interns take C&I 214 and C&I 216 or the combined C&I 289.75 course at the school or school district of the PDS location while completing their clinical experiences at the PDS site. Courses in their various methods classes are taken on the Illinois State University campus.
According to Bruce Johnson, program coordinator for Illinois State's PDS program, choosing a PDS site is one of the biggest decisions that teacher candidates make in their college career and it has a huge effect on their professional career. Johnson explains, "What we are trying to do here is provide them (the students) with a one year experience that will make them the best first-year teacher they can possibly be and provide the foundation to make them life-long learners and the professional educators that we want them to be to represent Illinois State. And above all, become that educator for the students in the classroom because in the end, that's what is it all about."
Secondary Internship Experience at University High School
Illinois State’s internship program at University High School is designed to give secondary education majors a year-long teaching experience, which immerses them in the life of the school toward a second-semester student-teaching assignment. Each intern will be assigned a University High School faculty mentor who will facilitate and design the experience to help the student become integrated into his or her classes as well as into the University High School faculty.
Interns will be included in all faculty functions—from the opening of school orientations to induction workshops, classroom observations, and department, committee, and faculty meetings. We hope that the product of this internship program, much like that of other professional development school models, is a teacher candidate whose experience equates with that of most first-year teachers. Our goal is to develop a teacher candidate who is more seasoned and mature in working within a public school setting, is able to ask the right questions, and can seek the necessary information to be successful in his or her first teaching assignment.
For more information on the internship program go to http://www.uhigh.ilstu.edu/school/internshipbrochure.pdf