Progressive Science Initiative® (PSI®) - Progressive Mathematics Initiative® (PMI®)
Print Media
NJ Schools are Struggling to fill vacancies for Math, Science and Technology Teachers
NJCTL helps districts fill critical teacher shortages.
Source: nj.com: May 20, 2022
Bergen County Technical High School Ranks as One of the Top STEM High Schools for 2020
The birthplace of PSI Physics is ranked the #13 STEM high school in the U.S. and #1 STEM high school in NJ.
Newsweek: November 12, 2019
Online Education as a New Teacher Training Paradigm in Africa
NJCTL's Executive Director, Dr. Robert (Bob) Goodman's concept paper on the use of online courses for professional development in Africa.
A Ten-Year Review of a New Jersey Science and Mathematics Teacher Endorsement Program
NJCTL's Executive Director, Dr. Robert (Bob) Goodman provides a comprehensive look at NJCTL's progress to date, and our potential to provide a scalable solution to the broader STEM crisis in the future.
New Jersey Principals and Superintendents Association (NJPSA) Educational Viewpoints, Spring 2019
Alternative Training Programs Can Help Solve the Teacher Shortage
By retraining mid-career teachers to enable them to teach physics and chemistry, NJCTL is helping to solve the teacher shortage in these subject areas and improving the level of diversity in the future scientific workforce by providing classroom role models.
Education Dive: January 22, 2018
More black and Hispanic science teachers could mean more scientists of color
NJCTL's alternative training program gets more black, Latino and women teachers into science classrooms.
Hechinger Report: January 17, 2018
Looking for Leaders in Physics Education? Try New Jersey.
Schools in New Jersey are changing the order of the science sequence in high school and recruiting more teacher. The result is getting more diverse students access to physics. And they like it.
The Christian Science Monitor: July 12, 2017
Dr. Bob Goodman provides "a simple, scalable solution that leverages easily accessible modern technology to develop the STEM skill set that our students need now — a solution that engenders collaborative problem-solving, cognitive flexibility and the kind of innovative thinking that is grounded in sound assumptions and reasoning."
HechingerReport.org: June 26, 2017
A new approach is transforming science and math learning in The Gambia
NJCTL's PSI-PMI approach was tested in Gambia. It can provide some answers to the future of science and mathematics education in schools across Sub-Saharan Africa.
Worldbank.org: June 15, 2017
Helping Students Learn to Love Math Through Science
Pleasantville High School's teacher Robyn LaTorre joined NJCTL's Physics Endorsement Program in June 2016. Read about how her students learned to change their mindsets, make deep connections to math, and how she adapted the curriculum for use in her classroom.
GettingSmart.com: April 29, 2017
Online Physics Courses for Teachers Provide a Path to Endorsement
At the NJEA Convention, NJCTL announced five online courses for teachers. The courses can be taken anytime, anywhere. They will allow teachers everywhere in New Jersey, the United States, and around the world to benefit from NJCTL's core programs of PSI and PMI. NJCTL partnered with Colorado State University - Global Campus to provide graduate credits as well as a pathway to a Master of Science Degree in Teaching and Learning.
NJEA Review: February 2017
The Time Has Come for a (Simple, Scalable) STEM Revolution
What if our goal was actually to empower every American student with the life-changing impact of strong skills in mathematics and science, rather than to winnow out the elite few? The opportunity for our students to collaboratively improve the future of our world may have truly unlimited potential.
Huffington Post: January 25, 2017
In this essay, Dr. Edward Friedman, Board Member of NJCTL and Professor Emeritus for Stevens institute of Technology, takes an in depth look at the challenges of implementing effective mathematics and science programs in urban America and Sub-Saharan Africa. Through a teach the teacher model that expanded from urban New Jersey to The Gambia, NJCTL has created a successful and scalable approach that should be of interest to the world community of science and mathematics educators.
Serdica Journal of Computing: January 2017
A Simple Solution to the STEM Crisis: Do We Have the Will to Lead the Way?
The key to making America greater may not lie in harkening back to a race and gender-biased past, but rather in harnessing the strength of our collective brainpower to build a globally competitive future.
Huffington Post: September 27, 2016
N.J. Program Fast Tracks New Physics Teachers
The Professional Development Program run by the New Jersey Center for Teaching and Learning is now producing more physics teachers annually than any preservice program in the country. Along with changing when and how physics is taught, NJCTL is also working to change the demographics of who is teaching it. About half of the teachers who've been trained in physics through NJCTL are women and a third are black or Hispanic.
Education Week: July 27, 2016
Are High Schools Teaching Science Backwards?
"Changing the order in which science courses are taken and the way they're delivered can lead to profound differences in both STEM interest and achievement," says Robert Goodman
eschoolnews.com : July 26, 2016
Should Schools Think of Physics as the Gateway to STEM Careers?
The nation is becoming preoccupied with offering STEM opportunities to students, but Goodman says short camps and after school clubs are not going to prepare students for an engineering career. "There is a pyramid to all of this," Goodman said. "If you can't do math, you can't be a scientist or engineer. Physics is the next step up."
Educationdive.com: July 11, 2016
NJEA and NJCTL Opening Access to STEM Careers in Camden
A firm belief that economically disadvantaged and underserved minority students should have equal access to careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) drives much of the work of the New Jersey Center for Teaching and Learning (NJCTL). This year, Camden adopted NJCTL's Progressive Science Initiative, enrolling all 9th graders in algebra-based physics.
NJEA Review: March 2016
Physics for All: How U.S. Can Start Catching Up With Rest Of The World
In most of the developed world, all students all expected to study physics in secondary school. About 30% of American high school graduates have completed a course in physics. Edward A. Friedman, Professor Emeritus of Technology Management at Stevens Institute of Technology, describes how The Progressive Science Initiative® (PSI®) developed by Bob Goodman of the New Jersey Center for Teaching and Learning (NJCTL) is a successful model for meeting the U.S. Physics education challenge.
Black Star News: Mar 2, 2016
Schools switch sciences to offer physics first
The Greater Egg Harbor Regional High School District will begin offering the Progressive Science Initiative (PSI) algebra-based physics to freshmen next year at its three high schools. Egg Harbor City, which sends students to Cedar Creek High School, has revamped its middle school program so that students will be better prepared.
AC Press: Mar 1, 2016
NJ Teacher Charts the Way Forward for STEM Education
Dr. Robert Goodman was never supposed to be a physics teacher. As far back as high school, his own teachers told him he didn’t have the aptitude for what we now call STEM. After graduating from MIT graduate, he then went on to be the CEO of two companies, and now teaches physics in New Jersey. He’s also the director of the New Jersey Center for Teaching and Learning, which has emerged as a premier program not just for teaching physics, and advancing STEM education, but helping teachers become STEM educators.
CivSource online: Feb 26, 2016
Bringing STEM within Reach of All Students
Bob Goodman describes his unique approach to STEM learning and his belief that majoring in STEM subjects would be within reach for all students.Bringing STEM within Reach of All Students
Black Enterprise.com Feb 22, 2016
Rev. Al Sharpton in Trenton: “STEM Education is a Civil Rights Issue."
The national spotlight was on PSI Physics and the Trenton School District on May 6 when the National Education Association, New Jersey Education Association and the National Action Network brought the White House Initiative on Education Excellence for African Americans (WHIEEAA) to visit 9th grade physics classrooms in Trenton NJ and talk to students and educators.
NJ.Com May 6, 2015
Bergen County Technical School, Birthplace of PSI Physics, Tops Lists of Nation’s Best Schools
PSI Physics began in one classroom in 1999 at Bergen County Technical High School in Teterboro, NJ.
k12.niche.com Sep 25, 2015
NJCTL Named as Partner in 100Kin10, National Network to Grow STEM Teaching Force
100Kin10, a national network fueling the next generation of innovators and problem-solvers today announced that the New Jersey Center for Teaching and Learning (NJCTL) has been accepted as a partner.
NJCTL Press Release: Jan 30, 2015
Learn how Dr. Robert Goodman started teaching Physics first, why it is so important, and how you can start.
New Jersey Board Associations: July/Aug. 2014
NJCTL – The #1 Producer of U.S. Physics Teachers
The New Jersey Center for Teaching and Learning, an independent nonprofit, surpasses all U.S. colleges and universities in creating physics teachers.
NJCTL Press Release: Jan 29, 2014
The New Jersey Center for Teaching and Learning® (NJCTL) has been singled out as an exemplar for the members of the world’s largest professional education association.
NEA: July 19, 2013
East Orange STEM Academy uses Physics to Take a Giant Leap
City High School Now Among the Top in the State for Students Enrolled in Advanced Placement Physics
NJCTL Press Release: April 18, 2013
The new “new math” mystifies parents
An article in the Asbury Park Press discusses the changes to math instruction. NJCTL's own Melissa Axelsson and Robert Goodman are featured in the article.
Asbury Park Press: Sep 19, 2012
At Woodstown High School, students in Patrick Chestnut’s PSI Physics class chatted with students in the Republic of Gambia, located in Western Africa, and exchanged stories about life as a student in a country on the other side of the planet via Skype.
NJ.com: Apr 12, 2013
Clark 7th Grade Students Learn from Each Other
Students and teachers using Progressive Mathematics Initiative at Clark's Carl H. Kumpf Middle School.
NJToday.net: Dec 1, 2012
PSI-PMI Training in Gambia has begun!
The Gambian Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education in collaboration with the New Jersey Center for Teaching and Learning (NJCTL) has begun training 48 teachers in Progressive Science Initiative (PSI) and Progressive Mathematics Initiative (PMI), two innovative instructional programs developed by NJCTL that are expected to enhance the capacities of the teachers in these critical subjects.
The Daily Observer: Aug 27, 2012
Perth Amboy Schools to Implement New Science, Math Initiative
The city will be the first school district in the state to adopt an innovative approach to science and mathematics education created by the New Jersey Center for Teaching and Learning.
MyCentralJersey.com: Aug 13, 2012
New Law to Address Shortage of Teachers in Math and Sciences
A pilot program pioneered by the New Jersey Center for Teaching and Learning to help reduce teacher shortages primarily in math and science was made permanent under legislation recently signed into law.
NJCTL Press Release: Jun 5, 2012
New technology and teacher training gets Englewood students excited about math
Read the latest NJEA Review article about how Englewood math teachers are implementing PMI in their classrooms this year.
NJEA Review: Apr 2012
“New Jersey approach" earns international award
The New Jersey Center for Teaching and Learning (NJCTL) recently won a Gold Award in a worldwide education competition at the IMS Global Learning Impact Awards. The Learning Impact Awards recognizes the work of NJCTL in advancing mathematics and science education.
NJEA.org: May 25, 2011
New Jersey teachers shift to physics to address shortage
The New Jersey Center for Teaching and Learning, which was started by the New Jersey Education Association, this summer began a teacher training program with Kean University called the Progressive Science Initiative. It is one of several programs around the state working to fast-track math and science teachers.
The Star Ledger: Oct 24, 2009
Senator Robert Bennett: “Technology can change education"
Former Senator Robert Bennett (R-UT) publishes a column on the nature of the STEM crisis in the United States and how PSI-PMI presents a solution to this problem as he saw on his visit to Malcolm X. Shabazz High School and Technology High School in the district of Newark Public Schools.
Desert News: Apr 23, 2012
Newark Students Demonstrate Dramatic Gains in Algebra Scores
Students taking the Progressive Science Initiative (PSI) algebra based physics course, instead of a non-physics science course, along with Algebra I, outscored their peers. On average, PSI students scored 44 points higher on the End of Course test.
NJCTL Press Release: Mar 25, 2011
The Gateway to the Future for Science Education
The Nation has cause for concern over student performance in science education, according to the 2009 NAEP results released this week. The report revealed that only 21% of the 12th graders tested performed at or above the proficiency level in science. NJCTL Director Dr. Robert Goodman explains “that for students to be internationally competitive in science, they need access to more advanced science courses, including physics.”
NJCTL Press Release: Jan 31, 2011
NJCTL's Progressive Science Initiative Impacts South America
Since its launch in 2009, NJCTL's Progressive Science Initiative (PSI) has impacted science education across New Jersey and now its reached South America.
NJCTL Press Release: Feb 8, 2011
According to a comprehensive, nation-wide study published by Learning Forward and the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education (SCOPE), the Center for Teaching and Learning (NJCTL) is an innovative professional development organization supporting teacher development in the areas of science and math education in New Jersey.
NJCTL Press Release: Feb 1, 2011