New Jersey Center for Teaching and Learning

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
770667571
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Mahwah, NJ, USA
Phone
6093101285
Rating
64
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Research Institutes and/or Public Policy Analysis

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,863,216
Expenses
$2,602,312
Assets
$724,974
Liabilities
$122,443

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • BOB GOODMAN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • BOB GOODMAN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $213,822 total reported compensation
  • MELISSA AXELSSON (EMPLOYEE): $178,835 total reported compensation
  • SUSAN OLSZEWSKI (EMPLOYEE): $168,420 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The center provides professional development for educators and course content materials.

What it reported doing in 2025

In 2025, njctl had three major program services:1) development and continuous improvement of free open educational resources (oer), which are posted on its website for world-wide free use to support the teaching and learning of k-12 and advanced placement (ap) mathematics, science and computer science; as well as english language arts in africa.2) asynchronous, online courses in mathematics, science, or computer science--based on njctl oer--for teachers to earn additional endorsements, prospective teachers to earn initial certification, or k-12 students to study subjects otherwise not available to them, as well as for teachers to add an endorsement in special education.3) teacher training projects in africa, supported by the world bank, based on adapted versions of njctl's oer course materials and asynchronous, online graduate courses.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 96% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 63
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 9
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 79.7%; rating input score 80
  • Program expense ratio: 57.1%; rating input score 57
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -39.7%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.28; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.17; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 37.7%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -2% per year; rating input score 0; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.3% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.1% per year; rating input score 100; 23rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 79.7% of revenue deployed · 57.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $214K · 16 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 57/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 3/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 14/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 4/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 28/100.