NJCTL Identified as a High Quality Professional Development Organization in a Comprehensive, Nation-wide Study
According to a comprehensive, nation-wide study published by Learning Forward and the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education (SCOPE), the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) is an innovative professional development organization supporting teacher development in the areas of science and math education in New Jersey.
The report, Teacher Professional Learning in the U. S.: Case Studies of State Policies and Strategies, generously supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, is the third phase of an ongoing study on professional development in the United States (see learningforward.org for the full report).
CTL Director Dr. Robert Goodman said, Improving student achievement in science is a national priority. To that end, increasing the number of skilled science teachers is also a national priority. The Progressive Science Initiative (PSI) was designed to achieve both of these goals.
The PSI initiative supports high levels of student achievement in physics, chemistry and biology and provides an opportunity for current teachers to earn science teacher certification (see www.njctl.org). In less than two years, CTL has trained more than 100 teachers who are currently teaching physics and/or chemistry to more than 6,000 ninth and tenth grade students in New Jersey.
Dr. Goodman noted, Our students need access to advanced science courses, particularly physics, and we need more highly effective physics teachers. The 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results indicate that only 21% of the 12th graders tested performed at or above the proficiency level in science. According to Dr. Goodman, NAEP results also indicate that students who took physics, along with biology and chemistry, performed higher on average than those who took biology and chemistry only. CTL is taking positive steps to strengthen science education in the U.S.
The excerpt below is from the report produced by learningforward.org referenced in this press release. This report, "Teacher Professional Learning in the United States: Case Studies of State Policies and Strategies", states that 42 teachers have been certified by PSI in 2010.
*CORRECTION: In 2010, 39 teachers completed the PSI Physics Endorsement program, 19 of these teachers have completed the required Praxis II certification exams and have filed for certification.
A Professional Development Center Establishes an Innovative Credentialing Program.
The NJDOE is not the only player in town when it comes to promoting high quality and innovative professional learning. The New Jersey Center for Teaching and Learning (NJCTL) has been doing groundbreaking professional development work in math and science instruction as well. Using the innovative curriculum of 2006 New Jersey Teacher of the Year Robert Goodman, NJCTL has teamed with Kean University to create the Progressive Science Initiative (PSI), where New Jerseycertified teachers are able to get new endorsements in physics. The program is targeted to give experienced teachers the disciplinary and pedagogical content knowledge they need to fill hard to-staff positions in high-needs districts. To illustrate this shortage, Montclair State University graduated 955 prospective teachers in 200708, but only one (was) certified to teach physical science (Rundquist, 2009). By contrast, in 2010 PSI certified 42 physics teachers.
Goodmans PSI curriculum focuses on teaching the core concepts of physics as a conceptual and mathematical base for the study of biology and chemistry, as opposed to the more commonly reversed sequence. The content work is facilitated with extensive use of technology, including SMART boards and responders to monitor student understanding and promote discussion. Teachers in the PSI certification program take a five-week intensive summer class and then a yearlong night class that mimics the kinds of teaching they will do with their own students (Rundquist, 2009). According to NJCTL Trustee Peggy Stewart, teachers in the PSI certification program work in PLCs to explore the curriculum as a living document, to learn the content and establish their own ways of delivering
the concepts. A spinoff program called the Progressive Math Initiative has also been started, and the programs share all of their instructional materials freely.
Drawing on the professional expertise of the teaching corps, the resources of the universities, and the support of professional organizations (in this case, one originally created by the NJEA) to fill an identified need, this dynamic program represents exactly the kind of grassroots problem solving that the PTSB encourages with its professional development planning process.
View the full report from learningforward.org
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