Starting in 2018, the New Jersey state Board of Education approved regulations requiring teacher hopefuls to complete 175 additional clinical hours as student teachers before becoming a full-time.

In addition to spending more time in the classroom, New Jersey student teachers will also be required to have exposure to a special education setting in his or her training.

The Board passed the regulations on Wednesday after much prior debate between Department of Education officials and university officials within the state.

In late September, eight presidents from the state’s public schools and 13 from private ones wrote to the Board of Education that the increase in time would also increase tuition and therefore possibly deter future students from considering teaching careers in the state.

Despite the opposition, the state’s assistant education commissioner Peter Schulman told the NJ Spotlight that the move is in the best interest of the state’s K-12 students moving forward, referencing advice from education experts in the field who argue that more preparation is needed to better serve students.

And [a]long with extending the time for student teaching, the state is also requiring more training hours for career and technical school teachers who transition from jobs in their industry and limiting the amount of time substitute teachers can spend in individual classrooms,” according to NJ.com.

“'In light of our recent PARCC and NAEP results, we have a clear call to action to do better in preparing our students...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,” Education Commissioner David Hespe said according to the Brick, New Jersey Patch. 

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Article by Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor

11/06/2015