Bill Text: NJ S2015 | 2020-2021 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires candidates for teacher certification to complete technology training program.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-03-05 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Education Committee [S2015 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2020-S2015-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator M. TERESA RUIZ
District 29 (Essex)
Senator THOMAS H. KEAN, JR.
District 21 (Morris, Somerset and Union)
SYNOPSIS
Requires candidates for teacher certification to complete technology training program.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning teaching certificates 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. a. Beginning with the 2021-2022 school year all candidates for teaching certification shall satisfactorily complete a technology training program.
b. Beginning with the 2021-2022 school year any person seeking certification through the alternate route shall, within one year of being employed, satisfactorily complete a technology training program.
c. For the purposes of this act, "technology training program" means a course of instruction which increases proficiency in the understanding, use, and application of educational technologies within the classroom. The State Board of Education shall establish the appropriate requirements of technology training programs, upon the recommendations of the Office of Licensure and Credentials and the Office of Educational Technology in the Department of Education.
2. The State Board of Education shall, within 120 days of the effective date of this act, promulgate rules and regulations pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), necessary to implement the provisions of this act.
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires that, beginning in the 2021-2022 school year, candidates for teaching certification and persons seeking certification through the alternate route successfully complete a technology training program. A "technology training program" is defined as a course of instruction which increases proficiency in the understanding, use and application of educational technologies within the classroom. The State Board of Education would determine the requirements of the technology training programs, upon the recommendations of the Office of Licensure and Credentials and the Office of Educational Technology. These programs would help to assure that teachers become proficient in the use of technologies appropriate in educating our children.
This bill is a recommendation of the Education Technology Task Force which was formed by the Commission on Business Efficiency of the Public Schools. The task force issued its report entitled, Technology and New Jersey's Schools in the 21st Century, on March 6, 1996. The task force, in its report, noted that it was imperative for all New Jersey students to have technological resources available to them so that they will be able to compete successfully in the workforce of the 21st century. In order to provide these technological resources, teachers will need to understand the potential of technology to support curriculum goals and will need to become sophisticated users of the technology.
