Bill Text: NJ S3134 | 2010-2011 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes teacher residency as component of a higher education teacher preparation program; requires teachers who serve as mentors in residency program to meet certain qualifications.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-12-01 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Education Committee [S3134 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2010-S3134-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator BARBARA BUONO
District 18 (Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes teacher residency as component of a higher education teacher preparation program; requires teachers who serve as mentors in residency program to meet certain qualifications.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the preparation of teachers and supplementing chapter 26 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The State Board of Education shall require as a condition for approval of a teacher preparation program offered by an institution of higher education, that a student enrolled in the program complete in the fourth year of the program a full-semester teacher residency program. The residency program shall:
a. place fourth-year students in a school district five days per week for a full-semester under the supervision of a district mentor teacher;
b. include a seminar course completed by the student during the semester that provides a collaborative learning experience and peer discussion with other residency students and with faculty. The seminar shall be designed to supplement a student's classroom experience under a mentor teacher by providing an opportunity for the residency students to reflect on and refine teaching practices through collaboration with peers, mentor teachers, and other practitioners; and
c. assign one or more faculty members to supervise the residency program and residency students.
2. The State Board of Education shall determine the qualifications to serve as a school district mentor teacher in the teacher residency program established pursuant to section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill). A teacher who participates as a mentor in the program shall, at a minimum:
a. meet the requirements for tenure established pursuant to N.J.S.18A:28-5;
b. have the recommendation of the school principal to serve as a mentor based on exemplary job performance and student growth and learning; and
c. make a commitment to engage in a collaborative teaching model that includes residency students in the development and implementation of curricula, meeting the diverse needs of classroom students, and analyzing student achievement data.
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill establishes a teacher residency as a component of a teacher preparation program offered by an institution of higher education. Under the bill, all fourth-year students would be placed in a school district five days per week for a full-semester under the supervision of a district mentor teacher. The students would also take a seminar course during this period that provides a collaborative learning experience and peer discussion with other residency students and with faculty. The seminar will supplement a student's classroom experience under the mentor teacher by providing an opportunity for the residency students to reflect on and refine teaching practices through collaboration with peers, mentor teachers, and other practitioners. The teacher residency program replaces the current student teaching experience required under State Board of Education regulations for the approval of teacher preparation programs.
The bill also directs the State Board of Education to establish qualifications to serve as a school district mentor teacher in the teacher residency program. Under the bill, a teacher who participates as a mentor in the program is required to, at a minimum: have acquired tenure; have the recommendation of the school principal to serve as a mentor based on exemplary job performance and student growth and learning; and make a commitment to engage in a collaborative teaching model that includes residency students in the development and implementation of curricula, meeting the diverse needs of classroom students, and analyzing student achievement data.
