This year, candidates should be early to mid-career professionals with at least 5 years of experience working in elementary (grades PreK to 5) education serving in teacher, specialist, and/or principal roles, who have demonstrated the criteria listed below:

1. Exceptional educational talent as evidenced by effective instructional practices and student learning results in the classroom and school. The nominee must be rated Effective or Highly Effective on his or her latest final summative evaluation rating;
2. Exemplary educational accomplishments beyond the classroom that provide models of excellence for the profession;
3. Contributions to education that are largely unheralded, yet worthy of the spotlight;
4. Engaging and inspiring presence that motivates and impacts students, colleagues, and the community; and
5. Strong, long-range potential for professional and policy leadership.

Note:This is a confidential process. Candidates should not be aware of this recommendation.

In order to recommend an Exemplary Educator, you will need to submit an online application by following the steps below:

1. Obtain a district-level Exemplary Educator account from your district's Homeroom Administrator which will then generate a username and password
2. Use the login credentials to access and complete the 2024 Exemplary Educator Recognition Program Recommendation Form. (Note: For the evaluation components and narratives, we highly recommend that you compose your answers in Microsoft Word or text-editor and save them. Then, copy and paste your narratives into the appropriate areas on the online form.)
3. Upload a one-page, signed recommendation letter on official letterhead explaining how the candidate meets the criteria. (Note: Since it must contain an official signature, please scan and upload in PDF format.)
4. Upload the candidate’s resume. (Note: The resume need not be current but must be either in Word (doc or docx) or scanned in PDF)

1. After each component of the online application is complete, you will see the completion date listed. When all the components of the application are complete and submitted, you will then see a verification message stating “Completed Recommendation.” Please print a copy for your files.
2. Your completed Exemplary Educator Recommendation Application(s) must be submitted online by 4 p.m. EST on April 12, 2024. Should you have any questions, please contact Nancy Besant at nancy.besant@doe.nj.gov.