Undergraduate and Graduate Requirements for Instructional Certificates

The New Jersey Department of Education has mandated that all students seeking initial teaching certification must satisfy a basic skills requirement. The basic skills requirement has three key portions (reading, writing, and mathematics) and must be satisfied through a combination of the following methods:

To demonstrate satisfaction with the mathematics portion of the requirement, students must meet one of the following scores:

• SAT:
  • March 2016 and forward: Math Section score 570 or higher
  • Pre-March 2016: Math Section score 540 or higher
• ACT: Math score 23 or higher
• GRE:
  • If taken on or after 8/1/2011: Verbal 155
  • If taken before 8/1/2011: Verbal 530
• Praxis Core: Math score 150 or higher

To demonstrate satisfaction with the reading/writing portion of the requirement, students must meet one of the following scores:

• SAT
  • March 2016 and forward: EBR Section score 610 or higher OR Reading Test score 30 or higher
  • Pre-March 2016: Reading Section score 560 or higher
• ACT: English score 23 or higher
• GRE:
  • If taken on or after 8/1/2011: Quantitative 156
  • If taken before 8/1/2011: Quantitative 720
• Praxis Core: Reading score 156 or higher AND Writing score 162 or higher

Basic Skills Timeline

For students in undergraduate programs leading to initial teaching certification (four-year and five-year programs), the basic skills requirement must be satisfied by the start of Clinical Practice I. The exact timing of Clinical Practice I varies by program; please contact your education advisor for your timeline. Documentation demonstrating qualifying scores which displays your full name, should be submitted through the following form for review: https://tcnj.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0MWxdFGd32Grb37

For students in graduate programs leading to initial certifications (certificate and degree programs), the basic skills requirement must be satisfied upon admission to the College. Documentation demonstrating qualifying scores which displays your full name should be submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies.

Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying (HIB)

All teacher candidates must successfully complete HIB training; through an online workshop or course-embedded training as evidenced by a certificate of completion.  Please check with your faculty advisor if your program has course embedded training and provides a certificate of completion. The online workshop information is as follows.

The New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association (NJPSA) offers two online self-paced courses that when taken together meet the HIB training requirement. You must take both to fulfill the HIB requirement. Each course costs $50.00. TCNJ students receive a $10.00 discount per course; the total cost is $80.00. Please follow these steps to receive a discount code, register for the courses, and receive a certificate of completion.

STEP 1: Complete online form to receive discount code: TCNJ Discount Code

STEP 2: Create an account with NJPSA: Create An Account

STEP 3: Register for courses:

1. Understanding Bullying in Our Schools
2. New Jersey Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights v2

Each course will have an assessment and allow you to save a PDF Certificate of Completion.
Save both PDFs; you will submit them, along with other documents, to the certification office when you apply for teacher certification.