There are two teaching situations for kids who speak a language
other than English. One is English as a Second Language. The
other is Bilingual. In Illinois if a school has 20 or more
students that are not proficient in English and speak the same
language, the students must be taught in their native language
in addition to learning English.

So what happens is ... kids have bilingual education if they
speak a language with a large population. Where I live
(Arlington Heights), Spanish, Polish, and an Indian language
students(that starts with a G and I cannot spell)receive
bilingual services. Bilingual teachers are in very high demand.

ESL or ELL (the newest term) teachers are in less demand unless
one can speak a language in addition to English. One district
(Des Plaines), though, is now putting into its job postings for
regular ed jobs that an ESL endorsement is desired.

Bottomline: If you speak a second language, look into getting a
Bilingual Certificate. You can get a temporary bilingual
certificate and quite a few years to finish it and still teach.
An ESL endorsement is not a bad thing to have if you are looking
for regular ed jobs, but only in having another feather in your
cap against other applicants. There are a few ELL teacher jobs
out there, but I have found the desire is for you to speak a
language other than English.

Good luck.

BTW: I really don't want to debate bilingual vs. ESL. This is
the way the state law is written.

On 5/29/09, me wrote:
> Assuming you have a teaching certificate of some sort, type 03,
> 04, 09, or 10, then the ESL endorsement (IL still uses the old
> acronym) is 18 credit hours. Your 12 credits will likely
> apply, and reciprocity might even get you the full endorsement.
> You would be endorsed in the ages you are otherwise endorsed
> to teach.
>
> Check out ISBE's website:
>
>
http://www.isbe.state.il.us/certification/html/esl_endorsement.ht
m
>
> On 5/28/09, Lily wrote:
>> What do you need to get a TESOL endorsement in Il? How many
>> hours and do you have to take a test? I'm from out of state
>> have a tesol endor. with 12 credits hours in course work
>> for my state. I could not find it on the website.

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