Official Site of The State of New Jersey
Issue 9: January 2024
Leana R. Malinowsky
Middlesex County NJ Teacher of the Year 2022-2023
My name is Leana Malinowsky, and I am the 2023 Middlesex County Teacher of the Year. Happy New Year and welcome to 2024! As many of us start working toward our New Year’s resolutions, let’s take a moment to recognize that January is National Mentoring Month. As educators, we tend to naturally fall into the role of mentors for our students, and there are many opportunities for us to serve as a mentor to them—both formally and informally. This work is paramount to what we do. However, in this new year, I challenge all of us to pivot our thinking and consider mentoring another educator.
One of the most popular themes for teacher candidates and early career teachers is the desire to have a mentor—someone with whom to share ideas and discuss classroom and instructional strategies. What better way to start the new year than to reach out to these teachers and be a part of their support system. Seasoned teachers have the knowledge and experience, as well as a great ability to listen—all things that can keep us on track with our resolution to make a difference.
We have this chance to be the guiding light other educators need, while taking the opportunity to work on ourselves. Mentoring allows us to consider our own practice, what we do well, and what areas challenge us. By serving as a mentor, we can help sustain our profession and break the cycle of early career teachers leaving the profession. Please consider reaching out to other education groups who serve teacher candidates and early educator, such as Kappa Delta Pi.
Featured NJDOE Office of the Month—
The Office of Educator Effectiveness oversees New Jersey policies for all educators that include educator evaluation, professional development, and the professional standards which support improved educator effectiveness and student outcomes. In addition, the office oversees educator recognition programs throughout the state. Finally, the office collaborates internally and externally with multiple groups to support other state and federal educator effectiveness initiatives.
One of the most important workstreams the office oversees is mentoring. According to chapter 9C regulations, all school districts must develop a district mentoring program which provides nontenured teachers with an induction to the teaching profession and to the school district community through differentiated supports based on the teachers’ individual needs, with the ultimate goal of helping them have a solid foundation for growth in the teaching profession.
The goals of district mentoring programs are to:
- enhance teacher knowledge of, and strategies related to, the New Jersey Student Learning Standards (NJSLS);
- identify exemplary teaching skills and educational practices; and
- assist first-year teachers in performing their duties and adjusting to the challenges of teaching.
Mentoring is about much more than what is required in regulations. Research shows that having strong mentors improves new teacher retention, as well as having a substantial impact on students (Public School Attrition and Mobility in the First Five Years). The 2017 study by SRI Education found that novice teachers who receive high quality mentoring have students who in turn show impressive academic gains (Impact of the New Teacher Center's New Teacher Induction Model on Teachers and Students). This is a large part of the critical nature of mentoring program development. See our Educator Mentoring and Induction Support webpage for more information on educator mentoring in New Jersey.
Please do not hesitate to reach out to the Office of Educator Effectiveness with any questions you have on mentoring or any of the other workstreams mentioned here. And we wish you a happy and healthy 2024.
- For comments or questions regarding evaluation: EduEval@doe.nj.gov
- For comments or questions regarding professional development or mentoring: TeachPD@doe.nj.gov
- For comments or questions regarding recognition programs: educatorrecognition@doe.nj.gov