• A candidate cannot apply for the provisional certificate; this certificate is requested by a school district.
• This certificate legalizes employment for a newly hired teacher after the teacher obtains a Certificate of Eligibility with Advanced Standing (CEAS).
• This certificate is valid for up to two years and expires on July 31 of the second year.
• The provisional certificate can be renewed one time if standard requirements have not yet been met by the expiration date.

Once employment has been secured, it is the responsibility of the hiring school district to enroll the teacher into the Provisional Teacher Process. A provisional certificate is then issued which is valid for a period of up to two school years.

The PTP is a school-based training and evaluation program provided during the initial years of teaching in New Jersey.

The following must be completed while employed:

• Mentoring
• Evaluation

Mentoring

The provisional teacher must be mentored for a minimum of 30 weeks by a certified teacher in the district/school. Mentoring requirements are located at Educator Mentoring and Induction Support.

Evaluation

The provisional teacher must be evaluated based on the AchieveNJ instrument utilized in the district/school and receive two effective or highly effective final summative ratings, one per school year within a three-year span. Visit AchieveNJ for additional information.