Illinois substitute teaching license

You must submit an official, sealed transcript to your Regional Office of Education with your certification application. Want to learn how to earn a professional teaching certification? Contact schools offering teaching certification programs in Illinois. No prior teaching experience is required to receive a Substitute Teaching Certificate in Illinois. No criminal history background check is required to receive an Illinois Substitute Teaching Certificate.

Once you are hired as a substitute teacher by an Illinois school district, however, you must submit to fingerprinting and a thorough criminal history background check. Instructions on how to proceed will be furnished to you at the time of hire. Illinois Substitute Teaching Certificates are valid for four years and will allow you to teach any grade. Once you do, you can be a substitute teacher in elementary, middle and high schools throughout the state. The Illinois State Board of Education oversees licensing for all educators in the state, and determines how to become a substitute teacher in Illinois.

You do not need any prior teaching experience to do substitute teaching in Illinois. However, if you already have a valid state educator license that required a bachelors degree, you are already qualified to do substitute teaching in Illinois. You are not required by the state to get a substitute teaching license, but an employer may still want you to get one. The application requests personal information, as well as your educational background.

Be prepared to provide official college transcripts to the nearest regional office of the Illinois State Board of Education. Your transcript must remain in a sealed envelope from the college or it will not be accepted by the board.

Another option is to have the university mail your transcript directly to the regional office. If your transcript does not arrive in a sealed envelope or directly from the university, it will not be accepted. Once you get your license, you must register it in ELIS. When your application is approved, you are issued an Illinois substitute teacher license.