ICYMI: Georgian Court Backs Added Student Teacher Requirements

Requiring prospective teachers to spend a full year in the classroom to receive their teacher certification is a win-win, not only for the teacher candidates and the state, but potentially for New Jersey’s children as well, the dean of Georgian Court University’s education program said Thursday.

The New Jersey Board of Education approved several new and expanded requirements for teacher certification in an effort to ensure teachers are better prepared when they enter the classroom, according to a news release from the state Department of Education.

“I think the way the regulations got passed is a win-win all around,” said Lynn DeCapua, dean of the School of Education. The new requirements, approved Wednesday, include several expanded requirements, most prominently that student-teachers spend a full year in the classroom, instead of the single semester required now.

Some of the requirements go into effect immediately, according to state officials, while others -- including the expanded classroom time -- are being phased in more slowly. The increased student teaching requirement will take effect in 2018-19, NJ.com reported.

DeCapua said the requirements were created with input from teacher education programs around the state.

“I really commend President Mark Biedron (of the state Board of Education),” DeCapua said. “He has really made efforts to listen to us. He reached out and has done follow-up and I think it shows in what ultimately got voted on.”

DeCapua said the increased classroom time requirement will enable student-teachers to spend more time putting the theory they learn in their coursework into practice, which she said will better prepare them for the job. At the same time, there is some flexibility built in, so that the requirement doesn’t exclude those students who are independent or who have returned to school to pursue teaching.

“The one-year student teaching requirement is financially prohibitive for an adult,” she said. “For people who have been working, who are independent and have rent to pay or a family to feed, this increased field requirement would prohibit a full-time job.”

But Biedron “seemed genuinely to want to make sure whatever was implemented was doable,” DeCapua said, “that it would set a high standard for a better-prepared teacher without deterring good teachers.”

As a result, the requirements approved by the state board include mechanisms to assist those teacher candidates, she said.

Georgian Court, which is widely known for its School of Education and has between 100 and 200 students in its program at any one time, already had required more classroom hours from its teacher candidates, DeCapua said, so the increased state requirements are not a huge problem for the university.

The challenge will be for K-12 schools to be able to accommodate the teacher candidates for the extra hours, she said.

“There will be an impact on the K-12 schools, for sure,” she said. “How many candidates they can absorb, teach
supervise?”

In the long run, however, the goal of ensuring that teacher candidates are well prepared and get plenty of time to put theory into practice is a shared goal, DeCapua said.

“The real win in the end is if teacher candidates exit the program better prepared and are strong teachers in classroom for our students,” DeCapua said.

According to the State Department of Education, other key changes approved Wednesday include:

Ensure teacher candidates are exposed to multiple types of classrooms, including at least one setting with students with disabilities, prior to student teaching.

Require “alternate route” candidates to receive sequential training from a single teacher-preparation program. Previously, candidates could receive piecemeal training from multiple teacher-preparation providers.

Require all teachers to complete a performance assessment in order to earn their certification. In addition to existing licensure assessments, which measure how well teachers know the content they’ll be teaching, performance assessments require candidates to demonstrate their ability to plan and teach a lesson.

All teachers will now earn their standard teacher certification after demonstrating competency through the statewide AchieveNJ educator-evaluation system rather than a separate system.

This initiative is intended to complement the state’s improved evaluation and professional growth systems for practicing teachers, state officials say.

“In light of our recent PARCC and NAEP results, we have a clear call to action to do better in preparing our students,” Education Commissioner David Hespe said. “One way we can do this is to provide better support for our teachers, given how critical they are in helping all students succeed. Today, the State Board has helped us take another big step in that direction.”

“In particular, we know that hands-on experiences are invaluable in preparing teachers, and not all candidates have been getting enough of that time in the classroom,“ Hespe said. “Providing more of these experiences will lead to better prepared teachers, which in turn leads to increased student achievement.”