This month’s blog comes to us from Jeanne DelColle, NJACTE member. Teacher shortages are not a new phenomenon, but the shortages of the past were largely focused in urban areas and in subjects such as STEM and world languages. Now, teacher shortages are ubiquitous across subjects and geography while there are also calls for a more diverse educator workforce. The issue has become so problematic in NJ that in November 2022 Governor Murphy issued executive order No. 309 to convene a group of educators and legislators to form the Task Force on Public School Staff Shortages and they developed a 27 ..read more

The 6th Annual Convening for Diversifying the Teacher Workforce took place over the course of three weeks during the months of October and November 2023. This year’s conference theme focused on Retaining a Diverse Workforce: Teachers are Talking. Are You Listening? Throughout the three weeks, the convening focused on understanding how school culture and climate can both alienate and support a diverse teacher workforce. The Week 1 75-minute virtual session was held on October 17, 2023, from 4:00 pm to 5:15 pm and featured two featured speakers, Mr. Eric Jones, a Field Representat ..read more

The following letter was sent to by our Executive Committee, on behalf of the membership. Dear members of the Senate Education Committee: On behalf of the membership of New Jersey Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (NJACTE), which represent 26 institutions of higher education, we write to request that you please support S3884/A5419, which removes obstacles to teacher certification for certain teachers. This legislation removes the greatest barrier to teacher certification and would do more than any other foreseeable action to welcome individuals from diverse racial, ethnic, and soci ..read more

You may have heard about the Performance Assessment Working Group. The group is currently comprised of twenty NJACTE members making for a strong group of assessment leaders, with many perspectives to share. It has been very busy this summer working toward the development of assessments and plans for validity and reliability procedures, with a timeline to complete the NJDOE required survey, due December 2023.   The Group began its work in July by reaching out to our accreditors, Mark LaCelle-Peterson from AAQEP, and Malina Monaco from CAEP to meet with group coordinators Debbie Snyder ..read more

I am so pleased to welcome you to the start of another academic year with NJACTE. I hope everyone had a chance to rest and rejuvenate over the summer. We have a full year of meetings scheduled. As your President, I am truly excited to support the great work of our members. Together we have created a collaborative professional community that continues to impress me. This summer I spent time reflecting on what makes NJACTE so special. We are living in a time when college students are thought of as customers, and our academic programs have been referred to as products to be purchased. This commer ..read more

NJACTE committees are a great way for members to work together to advance the shared goals of our association. The Governance Committee of NJACTE is charged to oversee tasks related to the governance of the association.   The committee is responsible for developing slates of officers for open positions and for conducting elections for those positions.   Another important task of the committee is to ensure that the association adheres to its own policies and rules.   Two documents set the rules for governance:  the State Constitution of the NJACTE and the Bylaws of the NJACT ..read more

Since 1985, the educator preparation programs within New Jersey’s teacher training institutions have been invited to submit the dossiers of their three most outstanding teacher candidates into competition for this award. This annual award publicly recognizes the year’s top clinical interns with special recognition given to the fifteen top graduates awarded with distinction. This year 62 clinical interns and 71 cooperating teachers were honored for their incredible work and mentorship during the 22-23 academic year. An independent panel of esteemed New Jersey educators evaluates the dossiers an ..read more

As the end of another academic year draws to a close, this year is bittersweet.  Bitter because this message is the last blog I will write as NJACTE’s President, but sweet because I will not be far.  Meaning, as my term comes to an end, I will move to the Executive Committee as Past President.  This will give me an opportunity to continue to lend a helping hand to the association.  As I reflect on my final year, I am very proud of the work that we have accomplished together as an AACTE state affiliate. Similar to last year’s reflection, a priority continues to be to have a ..read more

On April 11, 2023, Montclair State University’s College of Education and Human Services hosted a convening to explore the work of inter-institutional partnerships in helping to support students, communities, and educators. The event, titled “Partnering to Address New Jersey’s Educator Shortages,” brought together representatives from the state and federal government, colleges and universities, school districts, professional associations, and other organizations to discuss ways to increase the number of highly qualified professionals, especially teachers and other school professionals of color ..read more

This past February I spent five days in Indianapolis attending three conferences in tandem. As someone who typically gets restless after one day of conference sessions, five days is a lot! As it turns out, the experience was terrific. With university budgets being tight and time being precious, making smart choices in conference-going is important. Below are some reflections that I hope you find helpful. Choose conferences wisely, and double – or triple – up if possible.    I got lucky and hit the conference trifecta for this recent trip. The American Association of Colleges of Teach ..read more