Illinois State University, located in Normal, Illinois, is the oldest state university in Illinois. Founded in 1857 as a normal school, Illinois State University has one of the largest education programs in the United States. The History and Social Science Education Program, housed in the College of Arts and Sciences and the Department of History, is one of the largest, if not the largest, program in the nation. All students are majors in history or the social sciences and enroll in courses in the College of Education, which works jointly with the History Education Program in the preparation of history teachers.
The ISU History Education Program has two tenure-track professors from the history department, three non-tenure track history and social science education advisors, and three non-tenure track curriculum instructional assistant professors. The history faculty and staff members work closely with the College of Education while maintaining a direction that effective history teaching requires domain-specific thinking rather than a general model of thinking. The Partnership and Mentoring Schools associated with the History Education Program reinforce this direction. The History Education Program's nine university supervisors are non-tenure clinical assistant professors in the history department. The university supervisors maintain communication between cooperating teachers at student teaching sites and History Education faculty, maintaining the integrity of the program that emanates from the College of Arts and Sciences.
