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HCC Now Offering Teacher Certification Test Prep

Heartland Community College now offers test preparation courses to help individuals prepare for the four subsections on the IBST (Illinois Basic Skills Test)/TAP (Test of Academic Proficiency) as part of teacher certification requirements in the State of Illinois. 

Heartland offers this course as three one-credit-hour classes that will guide students through modules containing information related to the format of the ISBE/TAP test, testing goals and causes of test anxiety, diagnostic assessment through a learning survey, and test-taking tips and techniques. The course also offers practice tests similar to standard reading comprehension, language arts and writing, and mathematics portions of the IBST/TAP test.

  • The course allow students to practice test-taking skills specifically designed for certain portion of the IBST/TAP test.  Students may take the course up to three times.
  • The course is offered in an open-learning format. Open-learning classes at HCC provide an alternative to traditional classroom learning and are designed so students may begin the course at any point during the semester up until week 12.  This way, students have greater control over their own learning schedule since the materials are online, there are no specific deadlines for the assignments other than to finish all coursework by the end of the semester. If the semester has already started, students must see an Academic Advisor to register for an open-learning course.
  • Open-learning courses are self-accelerated, which means students can finish the course in a few weeks, a month, or use the entire semester. How much time is spent each week working on the course is up to the student.

The course uses Blackboard, which is an online learning environment that will allow students to access and complete activities.

For more information, call Traci VanProoyen at (309) 268-8576.