The New Jersey Teacher Quality Enhancement Recruitment (TQE-R) grant project addresses the need to recruit and retain highly qualified teachers in high poverty, low achieving schools, particularly in the hard to staff areas of math and science. Research indicates that to deal with teacher shortages in at risk schools, strategies are needed across the continuum of professional practice - from pre-service through ongoing professional learning - in order to retain  teachers  once  recruited into high risk schools. New Jersey’s TQE-R grant proposal outlines strategies across this continuum in its three strands:   Recruitment for High Need Districts;  Preparation for High Need District Teaching; and Induction and Professional Learning in High Need Districts.

    Working in partnership with The College of New Jersey and three high-need school districts (Trenton Public Schools, Pemberton Public Schools and Vineland Public Schools), the New Jersey Department of Education will build on its strong teacher quality reform platform and the positive historical relationships of all partners involved in the project.  In Strand One, the project will implement targeted, high-impact recruitment strategies for high need districts including web based recruitment services for urban districts; incentives for  high-need  district placement; and  new technology based  practices to reverse  slow-moving hiring and credentialing processes.  Strand Two will tailor pre-service program offerings in traditional and alternate routes to the needs of candidates who will teach in high-need districts. In the third strand, strategies will promote strong induction and professional learning in all three high-need districts. This grant project will help New Jersey to integrate powerful new recruitment and retention strategies for high need-districts into its overall educational reform effort to improve education of all of New Jersey’s students.  

Click here for more information

or Contact Michelle Ordini at 609-771-2295

Professors Sharon Sherman and Cathy Liebars
Principal Investigators