Teacher Training Rules Changing In NJ
TRENTON, N.J. (CBS) - New Jersey is changing the rules for school teachers to get certified to enter the classroom after new guidelines were approved this week by the state Education Board.
Prospective teachers will have to undergo a full year of supervision in the classroom, rather than one semester.
That'll come after they're shown different types of classrooms, including one dealing with disabled students. And before they get that certificate, they'll submit to a state run evaluation program.
"The biggest piece of this is the additional clinical hours in what's called a traditional prep program," Education Department Chief Talent Officer Peter Shulman tells KYW Newsradio. "That doesn't go into effect until 2018-19."
That'll give colleges and universities time to develop programs to implement the new changes and they'll have some flexibility.
"Some are going to be able to do this program in a typical 4 years an undergraduate would take to complete a program," Shulman said. "Some might add an extra semester. Some might find other innovate ways to do this."
Statewide tests indicated that less than half of New Jersey's public high school students were ready for college, but Shulman says these reforms were in the works long before those tests were conducted.
