26-27 Secondary Literacy Achievement Director (Grades 6-12)

KIPP•Miami, FL

15d•$100,000 - $120,000

About The Position

The Secondary Literacy Achievement Director serves as a key member of the Teaching & Learning TEAM at KIPP Miami. This role will be largely Miami-based, with only periodic travel to New Jersey.

Requirements

Kid- and teacher-focused: makes recommendations and plans based on what is best for kids and teachers; exhibits a front-line obsession.
Leadership experience -- has served as a School Leader, Assistant Principal, or network leader for two years or more. As a coach and leader for other leaders in our organization, the person in this role needs to have walked the walk.
Exceptional content knowledge and alignment to our instructional vision -- knows the ins and outs of everything related to standards, assessments, and best practices within the discipline.
Strong data analysis skills: can look at an assessment and data set (including sets of student work), diagnose challenges, and immediately recommend clear next steps for instructional leaders and/or teachers.
Presence and gravitas: can command the attention of a room when delivering feedback, explaining data, or leading professional development.
Responsiveness, service orientation, and ability to invest and inspire others -- the T&L TEAM exists to support and serve our schools, and so a top-down mentality will not work well.
Big picture thinking -- can develop and drive a vision that will serve schools across multiple cities. Does not get bogged down by logistics or uncertainty.
Detail-orientation -- while keeping an eye trained on the big picture, simultaneously does not let important details slip through the cracks.
Excellent communication skills -- can speak and write compellingly about the discipline and all the nitty gritty details stakeholders will need to know in order to achieve results.
Proactiveness – does not wait for explicit direction but rather asks the appropriate questions and self-directs; takes on additional projects without compromising the integrity of existing ones.
Flexibility -- sees unforeseen obstacles and challenges as an opportunity to design a better solution

Nice To Haves

An advanced degree in Literacy and/or Social Sciences, or extensive study in the science of reading.

Responsibilities

Design and Deliver Responsive Curriculum & Assessments in Secondary Literacy and Social Sciences
Develop literacy program (curriculum, assessment, implementation support) that upholds our vision for literacy instruction and long-term learning at KIPP Miami, and aligns with the KIPP Foundation’s OneKIPP initiative
Develop rigorous assessments that align to the grade level expectations for each grade, and progress developmentally as our students advance in reading level proficiency
Develop (and modify as needed) the scope and sequence of lessons across middle and high school grade content areas
Prepare module overviews and guidance for internalization for each unit of study
Monitor the implementation of the curriculum, and make and communicate changes and improvements to content as needed
Review and respond to assessment data by making adjustments and modifications to the literacy and social sciences curriculum and/or by deploying coaching support to places most in need
Develop expectations and protocols for superior intellectual prep with our normed curricula and the other aspects of our literacy and social sciences program and approach
Coach and Support the Implementation of the Academic Program
Support our schools to get extraordinary results in reading level proficiency, focusing on grades 6-12, by engaging in coaching & strategy sessions with each middle and high school in our Miami region
By working with instructional leaders in each school, build our school-based leaders’ content knowledge and instructional leadership capacity -- this may include engaging in walk-throughs, student work analysis protocols, coaching O3s, leading and monitoring content meetings, supporting PD implementation, and more
Analyze data and student work from major assessments with instructional leaders at each school and make recommendations about responding to misconceptions and implementing instructional next steps
Serve as a point person for all things programmatic, operational, data-related, and logistical – from assessment questions to materials management – related to elementary literacy curriculum
Lead and Engage in Professional Development
As a resident content expert, lead professional development for leaders and teachers in accordance with the T&L team’s annual professional development strategy, including AP Cohort Meetings, Regional and Network Professional Development, Heartbeat Summit, etc. Note that, depending on the PD strategy, group sizes for professional development sessions may exceed 100 depending on the PD venue
Support content TEAM meetings in elementary literacy and potentially elementary math, on an as-needed basis
Engage in research and professional development opportunities within and outside of the T&L team, to continuously grow and develop our team’s knowledge based, spread best practices, and improve on our collective coaching and leadership skills
Serve as an Outstanding TEAMmate on the Teaching & Learning TEAM
Collaborate with the Secondary Achievement Director(s) in KIPP New Jersey, serving as a thought partner for how to modify curriculum and program to fit the school’s context
Participate in the Instructional Review Walk-Through process, to objectively score schools on instructional practice and to generate feedback designed to move schools forward
Participate in teacher rubric scoring and rating, to help schools norm their scoring and calibrate the rubric scores for all teachers in a building
Participate in routine meetings with the T&L team, to solve tactical matters, engage in strategic work together, build vertical content knowledge and program, etc.
Participate in routine meetings with Managing Director of Teaching and Learning, Managing Director of Schools, Heads of Schools, School Leaders, and APs, to solve tactical matters, engage in strategic work together, and respond to the most pressing needs our schools have