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State Board adopts amendments to educator professional standards to streamline certification
Summary
The State Board voted unanimously to adopt amendments to NJAC chapter 9 (professional standards) to align regulations with recent statutes, remove certain assessment barriers, and create new certification pathways for paraprofessionals and computer-science endorsements.
The State Board of Education voted unanimously to adopt proposed amendments to New Jersey Administrative Code chapter 9, a package the department said aligns rules with recently enacted state laws and eases certification pathways for candidates.
Department presenters explained the adoption-level proposals would: remove the basic skills test as a barrier to certification; create pathways for paraprofessionals to earn a certificate of eligibility with advanced standing (CEAS); establish a computer science endorsement for grades 9–12; eliminate the prescriptive edTPA performance assessment and permit educator preparation programs to set alternative assessments; require coursework in special education, culturally responsive teaching and autism spectrum disorder for certain certification routes; and allow preparation programs to accept county college credits toward certification requirements.
The board’s presiding officer asked for a motion to accept the proposal. “Board member Pena has given a motion,” the chair recorded, and a second followed. When members voted, the presiding officer stated, “the motion carries unanimously, I believe.”
Department staff said the proposals codify statutory changes, respond to public comment (no responsive revisions were required), and aim to strengthen the educator pipeline while “maintaining standards and attempting to strengthen the educator pipeline,” as one presenter put it.
The board’s action advances the amendments to final-adoption status per administrative procedure; staff said additional implementation guidance and timelines will follow and that stakeholders who submitted comments had been considered in the process.
Next steps: staff will publish the adopted language and provide guidance for educator preparation programs and local districts on implementation timelines and allowable credit transfers.
