Child Care Coach

VOLUNTEERS OF AMERICA SOUTH CENTRAL LOUISIANA•Alexandria, LA

6d•Hybrid

About The Position

Volunteers of America South Central Louisiana is looking to hire a Child Care Coaching Specialist in the Baton Rouge area. The Partnerships in Child Care division of Volunteers of America Greater Baton Rouge provides information, support, and assistance to child care teachers and Directors to improve the quality of their early childhood instruction and thus positive learning outcomes for children. The Child Care Coach provides this array of support and guidance to early care and education programs through on-site technical assistance.

Requirements

Bachelor’s or Associate’s degree in Early Childhood Education or Child Development Associate (CDA) credential
1-3 years relevant experience in an early childhood setting
Knowledge of the CLASS teacher evaluation tool, Teaching Strategies GOLD (student assessment tool), Louisiana’s Birth to Kindergarten Early Learning and Development Standards, and high-quality curriculum
Knowledge about principles of adult learning
Louisiana Child Care Criminal Background Check clearance
Familiarity with community needs and resources
Principles and practices of providing services to culturally-diverse populations
Microsoft Office software applications and Google Forms

Nice To Haves

Infant, Toddler, and Pre-K CLASS observation reliability preferred (must be willing and able to attend training acquire these certifications)

Responsibilities

Support the implementation of goals and objectives established by the division
Schedule and conduct visits to Type III early learning centers and registered family child care home providers to work with providers to implement best practices, implement strategies to promote sustained change, and support self-directed improvement
Provide targeted technical assistance through coaching to child care centers according to guidelines established by the program and the Louisiana Department of Education
Provide to Type III child care centers coaching on effective implementation of Early Learning and Development Standards, Teaching Strategies GOLD student learning documentation and assessments, curriculum, and CLASS assessment results, including but not limited to conducting needs assessments with teachers and Directors, coaching on how to conduct live, ongoing observations of children, guiding on setting schedules to meet TS GOLD checkpoints effectively, providing technical support on using the TS GOLD app, providing modeling, guidance, and development of age-appropriate lesson plans linked to curriculum, guiding room arrangement and assessment of materials, reviewing CLASS assessment reports with providers, and setting up goals and action plans on improving CLASS scores
Lead reflection on and share feedback about teaching practices
Provide CLASS observations in Infant, Toddler and/or Pre-K classrooms
Develop and provide training session content and materials for child care providers
Prepare in a timely manner all required reports on visits conducted
Prepare information for other project evaluation and reports
Help identify needed training/professional development for teachers
Help organize in-service training programs for staff
Link child care teachers and/or Directors with needed resources for additional development
Provide emotional support for teachers and Directors regarding the amount of new knowledge being learned and implemented
Build collaborative relationships with Community Network members and partners, Mental Health Consultants, Child Care Quality Specialists, and others from Louisiana’s Department of Education
Perform other job-related duties
In collaboration with direct supervisors, implement a personal professional development plan
Provide practice-based coaching, including rapport-building, observation, skill-building, modeling, and supporting (through joint planning, action/practice, reflection, and feedback), to new providers and to low-performing childcare providers to implement best practices in teacher/child interactions, implementation of high-quality curriculum, and observation-based assessment
Travels daily to centers to provide coaching strategies to promote sustained change and support self-directed improvement
Maintain effective collaborative relationships with clients and other community agencies and organizations
Identify needed professional development for childcare providers