Top 10 Provisional Certificate Questions From Districts

The NJ Department of Education’s three-tiered system for becoming a teacher and obtaining a standard license can be confusing to follow for both candidates and school districts. Hiring school districts bear an array of responsibilities during the Provisional Teacher Process.

Here’s everything hiring school districts need to know about the Provisional Teacher Process.

What’s the first step in hiring a Certificate of Eligibility holder?

Before hiring a Certificate of Eligibility (CE) holder, districts must collect their Verification of Program Completion form, which serves as evidence that they have completed 50 hours of pre-professional coursework with a state-accredited CE- Educator Preparation Program for alternate route teachers. Their continued enrollment in the program’s remaining 350 hours of coursework must also be verified.

How do I sign up eligible new hires for the Provisional Teacher Process?

The New Jersey Department of Education’s Office of Certification and Induction only accepts online applications in order to expedite the provisional teacher registration process. Applications should be submitted through the Provisional Licensure Registration Management System (PLRMS).

The certificate registration process is completely digitized now. Paper forms can no longer be faxed in order to register new hires onto the system. The status of each candidate’s place in the process can also be monitored online.

How can I issue candidates their provisional teaching certificates?

The New Jersey Department of Education no longer issues paper certification documents. Once a provisional teaching certificate has been granted, it can be viewed online here.

What’s required of new hires in the Provisional Teacher Process?

Provisional teachers holding a Certificate of Eligibility are required to complete formal instruction with a CE-Educator Preparation Program (commonly known as an alternate route program), complete a minimum of thirty weeks of mentoring, and receive two highly effective or effective evaluation ratings based on your district’s AchieveNJ instrument.  In addition, they must also receive a passing score on edTPA–the current state-mandated assessment for standard certification.

Teachers who hold a standard instructional certificate, and CE in Teacher of Students with Disabilities (TOSD), Bilingual, English as a Second Language (ESL) and Pre-school through Grade 3 (P-3) are not required to be mentored or evaluated during the Provisional Teacher Process.

For part-time new hires, the mentoring process can be extended until they’ve completed the equivalent of thirty weeks of mentoring.  

Who is responsible for compensating mentors?

Provisional teachers are responsible for the compensation of their mentors. For CE holders, the mentor fee is $1,000. School districts are also allowed to the pay the cost of mentoring fees on behalf of provisional teachers.

Regardless of whether the teacher or district pays, your district’s administrative office is responsible for overseeing the payment process. Provisional teachers are not allowed to compensate their mentor directly. They must go through the administrative office in order to do so.

What happens if one of our provisional teachers transfers to another district?

You must complete a Mentoring Transfer Form on behalf of the candidate.

Who is responsible for verifying the completion of provisional teachers’ formal instruction?

Provisional teachers must submit Verification of Program Completion forms and official transcripts to the New Jersey Department of Education’s Office of Certification and Induction.

When do provisional teacher certificates expire?

Provisional certificates expire after two years. In select circumstances, teachers can extend their participation in the provisional teacher process.

When can provisional teachers apply for their standard certificate?

Once your provisional teachers have met all of the state’s mentoring, formal instruction, summative rating and edTPA performance assessment  requirements, they should be instructed to apply for their standard certificates online. Eligible teachers must apply for their standard certificates by May 15, 2018, in order to account for the processing time involved.

Eligible candidates can apply for their standard certificate using the online Teacher Certification Information System. Candidates who have not previously applied online will first have to register in the system.

What’s next for teachers who don’t meet all of the requirements of the Standard certificate?

In instances where provisional candidates haven’t met the full requirements of the state, they should not be encouraged to continue with submitting their application. Online applications are only valid for a six-month period, and must be resubmitted after six months. Fees are incurred with each submission.

Provisional teachers eligible to receive a student growth percentile score can extend the two year period of their provisional certificate. This will permit them to secure an annual summative rating that meets the criteria of the Standard certificate. Your county office will automatically send Provisional Renewal forms for teachers whose provisional certificates are set to expire on July 31st.

There is a $70 fee associated with this form. So long as your district checks the box stating that the applicant is a student growth percentile teacher, the provisional teacher won’t be required to pay this fee.