Stimulus money for career transition to teaching

At a recent job fair sponsored by the Association of Mathematics Teachers of New Jersey, there was a change in the crowd of prospective applicants.

Mixed in with the expected group of recent college graduates, according to attendees, were a number of people looking for a second career.

"It used to be you had your students from Rowan, Stockton, Montclair," said Tony Trongone, an association vice president and a Cherry Hill School District supervisor for mathematics. "Now we're seeing a lot of gray hair, we're seeing a lot of older folks. The crowd has really shifted. They need jobs."

To address a shortage of math and science teachers, and to get unemployed residents back into the workforce, New Jersey legislators are planning to help math and science professionals make a transition to education.

A proposal approved by the Assembly and Senate on March 16 aims to recruit math and science professionals for an 18-month pilot program that would certify them to teach.

"It will put more teachers in our schools who have specific qualifications as far as life experience in the areas of math and science," said Assemblyman Gary Schaer (D., Passaic), one of the bill's co-sponsors. "It will allow people with specializations in this area who have recently become unemployed for one reason or another to rejoin the workforce."

To be certified, an applicant now must take a qualifying exam, the Praxis, and have a state-mandated number of math and science credits.

Schaer said the process would be different for those going through the 18-month program.

"The process for certification will be a shorter process, more abbreviated, because of their experience and their knowledge in these areas," he said. "This will be different because of the backgrounds of the people we hope to attract."

The qualifications to complete the program will come from the Department of Education and are not known, Schaer said.

The program could bring relief for those who hire teachers on the local level.

"Every year, we've always had a need for good math and science teachers at the secondary level," said Trongone, in his fourth year with Cherry Hill schools.

Sharon Vitella, assistant superintendent for curriculum, instruction and assessment for the Mount Laurel schools, said it was more difficult to find qualified teachers in the math and science fields than in English or social sciences. "There's not as many candidates," she said.

When looking for qualified math and science teachers, experts say, a professional background is helpful, but is not the only thing that matters.

"There's an art to teaching in and of itself," said Linda Smith, elementary science resource specialist for the Paulsboro schools. "They think, if they know science, then they can teach it. There's a difference. ... You have to be able to break it down."

Trongone agreed that teachers need to be able to connect with students as well as have a grasp of the subject.

"Content knowledge has a positive impact on students," he said. "You need both. You need the applicability, but you also need the teaching strategies. The process takes resources, it takes support."

He has seen several teachers who were not properly trained drop an education career.

"They do it for a couple of years, then they say, 'This really isn't what I thought it would be,' " he said.

Smith, also the vice president of the southern region for the New Jersey Science Teachers Association, estimated that from 80 percent to 90 percent of second-career teachers end up quitting within the first few years.

To help new teachers get the proper resources, Smith helps run workshops for new teachers, recent college graduates and second-career teachers.

Patti Duncan, a high school science teacher who started her career as a professional chemist in the food industry, said mentoring and workshops helped her make the transition to the classroom.

Duncan switched into education in 1996 and never looked back. But she said the transition was not as easy as expected.

"People think it's an easy job; it's the hardest job I ever had, next to being a mother," she said. "I put in longer days than I ever put in in industry."

Duncan said many of the lessons she learned about keeping students safe in the lab - such as how to keep an eye on 24 15-year-olds while they're handling chemicals and Bunsen burners - came from veteran teachers.

"That's the stuff they don't teach you in college," said Duncan, who has taught at several locations in New Jersey and now teaches ninth and 10th graders in Hawley, Pa.

Schaer said the $800,000 in federal earmarks funding the program will be used to train the prospective educators.

"Funds will be used to help give these men and women the necessary teaching experience and background that they may not have," he said.