New Program Offers Alternate Route to Special Education Certification

Due to a nationwide shortage of teachers to staff classrooms for special education children, The College of New Jersey has designed an Alternate Route to Special Education certification program, new for the 2005-2006 academic year.

The program is intended to meet the needs of candidates from two different backgrounds: 1) those who have no background in education, and 2) those who hold a standard teaching certificate and desire certification as a Teacher of Students with Disabilities. The program is designed to provide essential knowledge and skills to teachers while they are working full-time.

Upon acceptance into the program and successful completion of a six-credit module (two courses) imparting fundamental knowledge about special education, candidates will be issued a Special Education Certificate of Eligibility by the Department of Education, entitling them to seek employment as a special education teacher anywhere in the state. When the qualified candidate obtains a special education position, the alternate route commences and the candidate will enter the Provisional Teacher Program in his or her school district, receiving mentoring and evaluation from the experienced teachers in the district, while also taking coursework in the evening at the College. Candidates will have five years to complete all of the requirements.

For interested candidates who do not currently hold a teaching certificate, entrance into the program requires presentation of supporting credentials (bachelor’s degree with a minimum GPA of 2.75, an academic major or 60 credits in the arts and sciences, and an appropriate PRAXIS test score) for an Instructional Certificate of Eligibility, issued by the Department of Education.

Upon completion of the alternate route program, students will earn certification as a Teacher of Students with Disabilities, Teacher of Elementary Students, and a Master of Arts in Teaching.

For more information, visit the College’s graduate studies Web site, www.tcnj.edu/~graduate, or contact Ellen Schechter, project coordinator, at schechte@tcnj.edu or extension 3432.