Department of
Special Education
Teacher Leaders for Children (TLC) Program
The Teacher Leaders for Children Program (TLC) aims to advance practicing bilingual special education teachers' knowledge, skills, and abilities in working with the English Language Learners (ELLs) toward improvement of learning experiences and outcomes for children and youth with disabilities who are ELLs.
As participants progress through this graduate level program, they will engage in a carefully designed sequence of course activities that effectively address research-based practice in racially, ethnically and linguistically diverse schools. TLC course content and the requirements are aligned with the State of Illinois standards for a Learning Behavior Specialist II (LBSII) Certificate in Bilingual Special Education.
To be eligible you must be a Special Education teacher with the LBS1 certificate.
Applicants who are not bilingual, may earn an ESL Special Education Approval. Applicants who are bilingual in one of the target languages may earn an LBSII.
ESL Special Education Approval 1. Must be a Special Ed. teacher with the LBS1 certificate No tests are required for this Approval
LBSII Certificate Bilingual Special Education 1. Must be a Special Ed. teacher with the LBS1 certificate 2. Must demonstrate bilingualism in one of 14 target languages and pass the ISBE Target Language Proficiency Test (Arabic, Cantonese, Hindi, Urdu, Japanese, Korean, Lao, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Polish, Russian, or Spanish) For further information on the program and the admissions requirements, please click here.