The College of New Jersey Logo

Apply     Visit     Give     |     Alumni     Parents     Offices     TCNJ Today     Three Bar Menu

Home

Stock art - college students workingStock art - college students at meetingStock art - teacher calling on students

 Stay Tuned for Upcoming Colloquium Events-Open to All Students

About the Program

The Middle School Specialization Program is a program offered to elementary and early childhood majors (EECE) and secondary education majors (EASE) who are interested in teaching middle school students (typically, grades 6-8). Students who participate in this program will learn about best practices for teaching middle level grades, hear from current middle school educators and administrators at monthly colloquia sessions, as well as gain first-hand experience teaching this age group through mentoring and student-teaching. To learn about program requirements, please visit the “Program Outline” link at the top of this page. You can also email Dr. Marissa Bellino at bellinom@tcnj.edu.

Are you an elementary major interested in obtaining a New Jersey endorsement for teaching middle school?

Currently, the NJ State Department of Education approves qualified elementary education candidates to receive additional endorsements for teaching in middle school subject areas, which is titled “Elementary teacher with subject matter specialization” (grades 5-8). The endorsement differs from the middle school specialization in a few ways. First, the middle school specialization is recognized by TCNJ while the endorsement is recognized by the state. Second, pursuing the specialization allows you to gain practical experience in working with middle school students while the endorsement does not. Elementary education majors interested in working with middle school students can easily do both and are encouraged to do so, especially given that elementary majors will naturally complete most of the requirements for the NJ middle school endorsement by following their program guidelines.

Candidates who hold NJ elementary or any other subject area teacher certification are eligible for one or more of the four endorsements (English/Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies) based on the completion of certain criteria. In most cases, receiving a NJ middle school endorsement will simply require the student to pass the appropriate middle school Praxis II content exam(s) and that they are on file with the NJ Department of Education. This can only be done after being issued a NJ Elementary or subject area teacher certificate. Please visit this link to learn more about how to receive the NJ middle school endorsement: https://certification.tcnj.edu/middle-school-endorsements/

To locate which middle school Praxis exam you need to take, visit this link, scroll down and click on the ‘Middle School Education’ tab to expend and view the list: https://www.ets.org/praxis/nj/requirements

Interested in connecting with other future middle school teachers? Join CMLA

TCNJ’s SGA Board recently approved a chapter of the Collegiate Middle Level Association, the college level organization of the Association for Middle Level Education. If you are interested in getting involved and want to be notified of future events, contact Dr. Marissa Bellino at bellinom@tcnj.edu.

Top