QUEST Teacher Preparation Program - An Accelerated, Combined Degree (B.A./B.S.-M.A.T.) Program

The QUEST Program -- the only one of its kind in New Jersey -- has received widespread recognition for its five-year combined degree design. This unique program provides students the opportunity to pursue professional studies for teacher preparation leading to state teacher licensure while earning a bachelor's degree in a liberal arts or science major and a Master's of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T.) degree.

Career Opportunities

National projections show a need for more than 2 million teachers in the next decade in all grades and subject areas -- particularly in the northern and mid-Atlantic regions. The greatest need will be for those teachers with certification in high-demand areas (i.e. special education, world languages, science and mathematics) and those with dual certification (elementary or secondary education certification with a second certificate in areas such as special education, world languages, early childhood, English as a Second Language and bilingual education.

Students in the QUEST Program will prepare for careers as classroom teachers with the potential to specialize further as guidance counselors, subject area supervisors, school or district administrators, subject area specialists, or child study team members.

Program Highlights

Through the QUEST Program, students can accomplish the following in five years:

• Earn a bachelor's degree in an arts or science major;
  
  
• Save time and money by receiving up to 15 dual undergraduate and graduate credits in education and advanced standing for a master's degree;
  

Other program highlights include:

• Partnership with exemplary schools to provide clinical teaching experiences and mentoring during each year of the program;
  
  
• Performance-based assessment and portfolio system based on national standards for beginning teachers; and
  

FACULTY

The faculty members involved in the QUEST and M.A.T. program have doctoral degrees from Columbia, Fordham, the University of Connecticut, New York University, Rutgers and Seton Hall. They have expertise in a wide range of disciplines as well as education and extensive experience as practitioners in public and private PreK-12 schools in urban, suburban and rural settings. In addition to PreK-12 teaching experience, most faculty have PreK-12 supervisory and administrative experience ranging from subject area supervisor to principal to superintendent.

The faculty’s areas of specialization span curriculum and instruction, technology, assessment, literacy/reading, mathematics, science, world languages, second language acquisition, early childhood and elementary education, English, social studies and special education. Extremely active and widely recognized in their fields, many of the faculty members hold leadership positions in national and state professional organizations.

PROGRAM HONORS AND RECOGNITION

The QUEST Program has received widespread recognition, including:

• Named "Best Practice in Professional Development for 1997" by the New Jersey Department of Education.
  
• One of only nine projects in the nation selected in1998 by the U.S. Department of Education for its Goals 2000 partnerships with school districts. The QUEST/K-16 model was recognized as “an exemplar of systemic educational reform.”
  
• One of only five universities selected statewide for a three-year Eisenhower Professional Development Grant focusing on development of the QUEST/K-16 model.
  
• One of only three universities selected for participation in the Mid-Atlantic Regional Teacher Education Consortium.
  
• One of only three universities chosen to participate in the Teacher Exchange Pilot Project in which the University’s Dr. Tarik Tosun was recognized by the Commissioner of Education and a proclamation by the governor of New Jersey.

FOR PROGRAM INFORMATION, CONTACT THE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION AT:

College at Florham
973-443-8385

Metropolitan Campus
201-692-2862 or 2853