
Some critical of decision to drop teacher basic skills test in NJ
📝 The law went into effect this month
📝 There's one less step needed to become a New Jersey teacher
📝 Both sides weigh in
The changing of the calendar year brought on a new chapter for prospective New Jersey educators — the elimination of the Praxis basic skills test.
“The State Board of Education shall not require a candidate seeking a certificate of eligibility, a certificate of eligibility with advanced standing, a provisional certificate, or a standard instructional certificate to complete a Commissioner of Education-approved test of basic reading, writing, and mathematics skills including, but not limited to, the Praxis Core Academic Skills for Educators test, in order to obtain a certificate of eligibility, a certificate of eligibility with advanced standing, a provisional certificate, or a standard instructional certificate,” according to Act 1669.
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Gov. Phil Murphy signed the bipartisan bill in June 2024 as part of the 2025 budget, and to also help with the teacher shortage. There wasn’t much opposition to the idea in Trenton in either the Senate or Assembly.
“So teachers don’t need to know how to read in New Jersey? Seems like that would make it challenging to teach kids how to read,” Musk wrote on X.
For the move
“In June, I was shocked by the absolute lack of public explanation for this change. The media ran with irresponsible, misleading headlines, making it sound like prospective teachers could now be functionally illiterate and wouldn’t need to pass any Praxis exams to become certified. And what did the bill’s sponsors and Governor Murphy do? Nothing. They stayed mute while teachers across New Jersey were made to look like the village idiots,” Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia, R-Sussex, said to New Jersey 101.5.
She voted in favor of the bill to get rid of the “unnecessary, redundant test” — saying the other tests teachers have to take do enough to prove a future teacher’s mastery and ability to teach.
Fantasia said future teachers must still:
- Earn a bachelor’s degree in their subject area(s)
- Pass the Praxis exam(s) for their certification field
- Obtain a Certificate of Eligibility (CE) or a Certificate of Eligibility with Advanced Standing (CEAS)
- Complete a two-year provisional period with formal evaluations (minimum of six observations)
- Receive an “effective” rating to obtain a standard certificate
- Undergo mentorship and additional coursework (if required)
As seen above, the state hasn’t done away with Praxis all together. Fantasia called the surviving Praxis exam(s) a more comprehensive testing to gauge if someone is fit to teach.
Against the move
“The test that they've eliminated has long served as a basic screening mechanism to ensure that these aspiring teachers have basic literacy skills and basic numeracy skills. So, I think people need to understand we're not talking about a rigorous test. This is nothing like the LSAT. This is nothing like what people take to get into business school. This is a very, very low rigor test that has, again, questions designed to sort of filter out people that don't have basic literacy and mathematic skills,” said Erika Sanzi, director of outreach with Parents Defending Education.
Sanzi stressed the test presented a red flag — failure rates were alarmingly high.
“It's not a redundant test. Essentially, it's still eyeing out something that many people fail,” she said.
In Sanzi’s words, she’s aware of teacher shortages, especially those affecting foreign language, science and English language learning. However, the path New Jersey is on with this latest cut is essentially lowering the standard of instruction, she said.
Addressing a bigger problem
Fantasia says two things would grossly improve New Jersey's teacher shortage — the passage of a measure, A150, that would eliminate the requirement that teachers need to live in New Jersey, and addressing New Jersey Education Association's (NJEA) overwhelming control over the education system.
Fantasia is one of the primary sponsors of A150. As far as the NJEA, part of her concern with the association is that it "prioritizes union power."
Sanzi, on the other hand, believes that both short-term and long-term approaches would better address the shortages.
In the short term, she would like to see the state find more alternative pathways to certification. In the long term, she said leaders need to not hide away from an uncomfortable conversation about the quality of education.
"How is it possible that so many students that are coming out of our K-12 system and then coming out of our higher ed system aren't able to pass these basic tests," Sanzi said.
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