Teaching fellowships for 14 area students

TRENTON Fourteen Rowan and Rutgers students were among 49 announced Tuesday as the first cohort of a fellowship program aimed at supplying science, technology, engineering, and math teachers to high-need secondary schools.

Rowan University and Rutgers-Camden both have seven students in the inaugural class of the Woodrow Wilson New Jersey Teaching Fellows, Gov. Christie announced Tuesday.

Fellows agree to teach for three years in a high-need school district in return for a $30,000 stipend and a one-year master's degree and teacher certification program.

"With today's announcement, we are reaffirming our commitment to investing in teacher talent with a new pipeline for recruiting highly qualified teaching candidates and training them so that they can generate the greatest positive learning outcomes for our children," Christie said in a news release.

The Jersey program aims to support students in intensive one-year teaching master's degree programs at five state colleges: Rowan, Rutgers-Camden, the College of New Jersey, Montclair State University, and William Paterson University.

Fellows receive their master's degree and teacher certification in science, math, or technology education.

Fellows enroll in the one-year programs and receive a $30,000 stipend for that year. Some colleges also offer tuition discounts.

In return, the fellows agree to spend three years teaching in a school district partnering with the colleges. (They become full salaried employees during that time.)

New Jersey is one of four states nationally to offer the fellowship program, which began in Indiana in 2009. Ohio and Michigan also have the program, and Georgia is in the process of creating one.

Initial funding for the program, totaling $10.6 million, came from a variety of private funders, led by the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.

- Jonathan Lai