There is a proposed regulation, titled Professional Licensure and Standards – Teacher Preparation, before the NJ Department of Education regarding mandatory testing for students who wish to enroll in a teacher preparation program in the state of NJ.
As of October 2013, this regulation is in the Proposal Level of rules and regulations with the DOE and is open to public comment. There are two main areas of the regulation that will impact cohorts and individuals enrolling in a teacher preparation program in the state of NJ:
1. The average cumulative GPA of the accepted cohort of candidates as of September 1, 2015 is at least 3.00 when a grade point of 4.00 equals an A grade for the first two years of college and each accepted individual candidate shall achieve at least a 2.75. (The new CAEP standard 3.2 states that “…the provider ensures that the average grade point average of its accepted cohort of candidates meets or exceeds the CAEP minimum of 3.0…” and will be in effect as of January 2014.)
2. The accepted candidates achieved acceptable levels of proficiency in the use of the English language, both oral and written, and mathematics. As of September 1, 2014, all accepted candidates shall have achieved a minimum score established by the Department on a Commissioner-approved test of basic reading, writing, and mathematics skills, or score at least a 1660 combined critical reading, writing, and mathematics score on the SAT or at least a 23 on the ACT.
There was discussion at the Curriculum Revision meeting on September 27, 2013 as to what the ‘Commissioner approved test’ would be. Upon further research and discussions with Eric Nicola, the Assistant Director of Preparation in the Office of Recruitment, Preparation and Recognition, Division of Teacher and Leader Effectiveness, New Jersey Department of Education, the state of NJ will be requiring students to pass the Core Academic Skills for Educators in the areas of math, writing and reading NOT the Praxis I. Detailed information regarding the Core Academic Skills for Educators tests can be found on the ETS website.