Hiring Policy
Substitute License(s): New Jersey offers a Substitute Credential. The substitute credential requires the completion of 60 semester hours of coursework. In addition, teachers with an instructional Certificate of Eligibility (CE), Certificate of Eligibility with Advanced Standing (CEAS), or a standard certificate may also act as substitutes within or outside of their area of certification.
Length of Assignment: New Jersey permits holders of a CE or CEAS with an endorsement in the area to be taught to serve as substitute teachers for up to 60 days. They may teach for up to 40 days if teaching outside of their certification area. Holders of a substitute credential may teach for no more than 20 days in same position.
Evaluation of Long-Term Substitutes: New Jersey state policy is unclear whether substitutes with current teaching licenses are subject to evaluation under the state's evaluation requirements.
Require long-term substitute teachers to be evaluated.
New Jersey should maintain standards for substitute teacher quality and accountability for all substitutes, but especially for long-term substitutes who are expected to stand in for licensed teachers for extended periods of time. New Jersey can help ensure that substitute teachers are held to high standards and have access to the supports necessary to improve their practice by requiring evaluations—
which it may find appropriate to modify from its standard, state-required
teacher evaluations— of long-term substitutes.
New Jersey reiterated that the number of consecutive days a substitute can be assigned to the same class varies based on the type of credential held.
Research finds that teacher absences negatively affect student achievement and growth.[1] While some of this is attributable to the disruption of regular classroom practices and instruction,[2] it may also be attributable to substitute teacher quality. The gap in instructional quality and daily productivity when a regular teacher is replaced by a substitute teacher is significant.[3] However, absences covered by substitutes licensed by the state are not as detrimental to student achievement as those covered by non-licensed substitutes.[4] Some research hypothesizes that the low-skill level and mobility of substitute teachers may contribute to the reduction in instructional focus and quality and that even when substitute teachers are good instructors, they may be unable to effectively implement a teacher of record's long-term instructional strategies.[5] Parents, teachers, principals, and students have concerns about substitute teachers' quality and qualifications.[6] States should maintain rigorous standards for substitute teacher quality and accountability for all substitutes, but especially for long-term substitutes who are expected to stand in for teachers for long stretches of time.