Substitute Credential Inquiries
The New Jersey Instructional Substitute credential has the following applicant requirements:
1) to be at least 18 years old,
2) have a minimum of 30 undergraduate-level credits passed, and
3) a current (must be dated recently, within the last 5 months) Criminal Background Check (CBC) on file with the state of New Jersey.
The best place to start looking for a substitute teaching position is to check districts' employment websites for substitute teacher postings and contact information. Districts may very well encourage applying to the job on their website even before applying for the New Jersey substitute credential itself. It's also common to find step-by-step directions to apply for a substitute position within a district's Human Resource webpages along with steps of applying for the New Jersey Instructional Substitute credential itself simultaneously. Other districts may reference contractor/vendors they use to help obtain their substitutes and direct applicants there so follow your chosen district's directions accordingly. Alternatively, you may prefer to apply for substitute credential with Rider University as your sponsor and choose to apply for jobs at a later date.
All applicants need to have a CBC and it needs to be dated within the last five months in order for the CBC to be considered current. If you need to create your CBC, directions may be found here: CBC Applicant Instructions. If you already have a CBC, look closely at it (download your CBC as a pdf here) to see that the newest date is less than five months old. If it's older than five months old, you will need to wait until you have it transferred or archived in order to get a current date, before you can upload it to an Instructional Substitute credential application.
Within the application, you will be asked to select a county to process your substitute credential application, even though once issued, your substitute credential is good for five years throughout the entire state of New Jersey. Each county has its own Department of Education office with someone that specifically handles Instructional Substitute credential applications and you may contact the appropriate New Jersey County Dept. of Education Offices directly for further inquiries about your Instructional Substitute Credential application and to check on progress, so make sure to remember which county office you chose. Ideally, the county codes on your CBC will coincide with the county you will choose to process your substitute credential application. Again, you may need to transfer or archive county and district codes depending on hiring needs so it's ideal to determine this information prior to applying if possible.
The first step of the New Jersey Instructional Substitute credential application is to carefully create your personal NJEdCert account. This one-time process is best completed through a laptop or computer screen, rather than a cell phone in order to see all the directions completely. Please check here for a complete overview of the substitute credential process and the NJEdCert application system. Read the directions thoroughly and be especially careful of your browser's autofill features to make sure all your information is precisely accurate. Reference this New Jersey Dept. of Education's 10-Point Checklist for information to have on hand in order to set up your account. Most importantly, decide upon your preferred professional email address (which will also become part of your username) for future communication from the New Jersey Dept. of Education and to set up a password for your account creation. Have your social security number and your ETS Candidate ID number, if applicable, on hand (found in the upper left corner of your Praxis Test Taker Score Report).
Once your NJEdCert account is created, you'll click "Apply Now" to apply for the Instructional Substitute credential (found under the letter "I") and proceed through reading all the directions carefully. Once issued, your substitute credential is good for five years throughout New Jersey, but as part of the application process, you'll select one county to process your application and you'll upload a pdf copy of your Criminal Background Check (CBC) with matching county codes within the application.
Furthermore, you will need to order an official electronic copy of your undergraduate-level transcript to be sent officially to the New Jersey Dept. of Education. This is required as proof of the 30 or more undergraduate-level credits passed requirement. Allow approximately two weeks processing time for the transcript be received and applied to your NJEdCert account.
In summary, once you've completed the application and paid the applicable state fees ($125 plus a small processing fee), uploaded your current CBC (download your CBC as a pdf here), and ordered your official electronic undergraduate-level transcript, you may expect anywhere from approximately two to four weeks processing time. If your substitute credential is still not issued within this timeframe, you should reach out directly to the specific county's Dept. of Education office to inquire if anything else may be needed. Be sure to follow through and keep an eye on your application within your NJEdCert account to see it through because incomplete applications will expire.
Further general questions regarding the new New Jersey substitute credential process may be directed to the hiring district's personnel office in which you may be already working with, or the specific county's Department of Education Office as applicable. If you find you still need assistance with NJEdCert account creation, navigation or substitute application steps, or are experiencing a long delay in the processing of your substitute credential application, Rider's certification coordinator, Jeanette Friscia, may be able to help troubleshoot and is best reached by email at jfriscia@rider.edu. Please put substitute inquiry in the subject line and include your Bronc ID. It's also helpful to include a copy of your CBC, and to mention which county you are or plan to apply through along with all other pertinent information. Also include a few times and dates that you are available to meet either in person or on Zoom with your computer or laptop.