Page 109 - EdViewptsSpring2019-web

Assemblywoman Mila Jasey and Background Information passing the necessary Praxis
Senator Teresa Ruiz sponsored both examination(s), and completing the
the 2009 pilot legislation and the NJCTL is an independent, nonprofit application process with the NJ DOE,
2012 legislation that ensured NJCTL charitable organization founded in teachers receive an endorsement in
could permanently continue this 2007 by NJEA with the mission of their new subject area.
important work. empowering teachers to lead school
improvement so that all children have Because they begin teaching while they
The Results access to a high-quality education. are studying more advanced content,
their prior learning is reinforced, and
Today, NJCTL plays a key role in posi- NJCTL invests in teachers to make their districts have a teacher for the intro-
tioning New Jersey to lead the nation work simpler, more effective, and less ductory course in that subject without
in STEM education. While much work stressful by providing comprehensive, having to wait for the candidate to
remains to be done, the state is on a free, editable kindergarten to AP science complete the full program.
powerful, positive trajectory toward and mathematics classroom course
this goal. materials. In the process, expenses are Evolving to Asynchronous,
reduced for districts by eliminating the
The new teachers produced by NJCTL need for textbooks. These materials Learner-Scheduled Online
are providing many more New Jersey are used in New Jersey, across the Courses
students with opportunities to study United States, and in 183 countries. NJCTL has had great success with its
science and mathematics. There is In 2018, more than 820,000 files were programs but recognized two obsta-
a strong, effective focus on students downloaded by 225,000 unique visitors cles to providing all teachers access to
from underserved backgrounds. to www.njctl.org. the opportunity to earn a new STEM
New Jersey has become the #1 state Since 2009, these same materials endorsement: cost and location. Both
in the U.S. for student achievement in have served as foundational course have been addressed by shifts in its
physics, as measured by both SAT II materials for NJCTL to train teachers instructional model.
and AP Results. Similarly, New Jersey in physics, chemistry and mathemat- The program in place through 2017
has become the #2 state for chemistry, ics. Along with social constructivist required 300 hours of face-to-face
as measured by both SAT II and AP classroom pedagogy, well-trained classroom time. It was not possible to
Results. teachers are successfully leveraging have enough locations to be conve-
my foundational approach to nient to all teachers. Also, teachers
drive strong student outcomes. I who had family responsibilities, second
served on the Board of Directors jobs, coaching, etc. could not partici-
of NJCTL from 2007 until becom- pate. After several years of piloting
ing the organization’s Executive online courses, the creation of tens of
Director in 2009. thousands of videos made it possible
NJCTL’s team of educators con- to transform to an anytime, anyplace
tinuously work to improve NJCTL model of education. All NJCTL courses
courses using data-driven findings are now completely asynchronous
to exceed demands in learning and online. In addition, since they
standards, enhance the interactive are asynchronous, teachers can start
nature of coursework, and engage them anytime; traditional academic
learners through reasoning and calendars are not used.
real-world connections/implemen-
tations. These educators serve as Donor-funded Scholarships
a dedicated faculty to build, coach, At $275 per credit, NJCTL tuition is
and guide an ever-increasing co- about 1/3 of what university programs
hort of effective STEM teachers. typically cost. Nonetheless, not all
teachers can afford the $5,000 to
The NJCTL Endorsement $10,000 to pay for their own endorse-
Program ment. Tuition is also a problem in

Teachers with certification in cases where districts do not have the
any subject area may enroll in necessary funds but need teachers
courses to learn the content, with these shortage-area certificates.
and how to teach the content, of Fortunately, donors have provided
physics, chemistry or mathemat- scholarships to cover up to 75% of tu-
ics. The full program consists of ition for as many as 35 teachers each
30 credits in science, 38 credits year. These donors, Thompson Family
in K-12 mathematics, or 24 credits Foundation, Bayer USA Foundation,
in middle school mathematics. Morgridge Family Foundation, and the
After completing the program, Celia Lipton Farris & Victor W. Farris

Educational Viewpoints -107- Spring 2019