Program Design Concepts

The NJTLC Program Design includes seven (7) interrelated and coordinated components that integrate, extend and enhance instructional class sessions and activities, mentoring, performance-based tasks and projects, and field-based internships and clinical experiences throughout the program.

Component I: FEA District/School Partnership

FEA has established district/school partnerships to develop the infrastructure and standard procedures with partner districts/schools that will support and enhance:

• Recruitment, application and admissions processes
• Teacher leader training
• School-based clinical experiences and mentoring
• Implementation of teacher leader positions at district and school levels
• Effective teacher leader performance in various teacher leader roles and
• Continuous improvement and sustainability of the Teacher Leader Certification (NJTLC) Program

Teacher leader candidates are required to attend and complete “Teacher Leader Instructional Sessions” designed to establish a comprehensive foundational base of leadership knowledge and skills that will be enhanced and extended through:

• Instructional activities and readings
• Mentoring
• Group discussions
• Performance tasks and projects
• School-based internships and clinical experiences, and
• Ongoing reflective practice

The NJTLC Program assigns a trained E-Mentor to each candidate who will guide “Inquiry Groups” that meet on a regular schedule with teacher leader candidates to:

1. Extend and enhance discussions on instructional seminar topics
2. Provide an opportunity to discuss internships, clinical experiences and performance tasks in their schools
3. Provide guidance and support for completion of the required school-based action research project
4. Support performance-based assessments

The NJTLC Program requires all candidates to complete a school-based “Teacher Leader Internship”, which includes multiple school-based clinical experiences, performance tasks, and a “Teacher Leadership Project” embedded throughout the program’s duration that are designed to provide opportunities for candidates to examine and apply teacher leadership practices.

The Teacher Leader Internship and all related clinical experiences, performance tasks and projects are:

1. Facilitated by a trained school-based “SB Mentor” assigned to each candidate.
2. Supported, extended and enhanced by required “Team Leadership Seminars” that are regularly scheduled for school-based SB-Mentors and teacher leader candidates

Two (2) Field-Based Observations are also conducted by the SB-Mentor during the Internship.

The NJTLC Program incorporates required formal “Team Leadership Seminars” that:

1. Provide opportunities for teacher leader candidates to engage in specially designed leadership seminars with their school-based SB-Mentors (principals/asst. principals/supervisors) to support, enhance and extend their instructional and clinical experiences, internships and projects, and teacher leader roles in their districts/schools.
2. Include relevant instructional modules and team work sessions to extend teacher leader preparation into specific topics relevant to their school-based Teacher Leader Internships, clinical experiences, projects and research, and to provide additional opportunities for discussion and sharing across schools and districts.

Job-embedded performance-based tasks and projects are designed to ensure authentic and relevant leadership experiences that systematically support, enhance and extend the teacher leader candidates’ leadership knowledge and skills beyond internships, instructional sessions, clinical experiences, and mentoring.

1. The focus of job-embedded performance-based tasks and projects is examination and effective application of teacher leadership practices.
2. The NJTLC Program requires completion of eight (8) job-embedded performance-based tasks and projects for each teacher leader candidate.

1. The NJTLC Program includes a comprehensive teacher leader candidate performance assessment system to measure the candidate’s proficiency levels for the requisite leadership knowledge and skills for teacher leaders, and their ability to apply their knowledge and skills as teacher leaders.
2. Multiple formative and summative assessments of candidate performance are aligned with the NJTLC Program’s “Teacher Leader Standards Framework” and completed by multiple assessors (program instructors/staff, mentors, and candidates’ immediate supervisors) related to internships, performance tasks and clinical experiences, and projects, as appropriate.