Director of English Language Art

REPORTS TO: Chief Academic Officer

Top Five Reasons to Join Education for Change:

• Organization prioritizing equitable outcomes for students
• Collaboration with other visionary school and network leaders
• Personalized leadership coaching
• Robust school leadership team with site-based decision making
• An organization committed to family and community empowerment

ROLE SUMMARY

Education for Change is looking for an equity centered instructional leader who will engage students, staff, and families to ensure strong student outcomes and joyful, inclusive educational experiences. The Director of 3-8 ELA communicates and actualizes the mission and vision of Education for Change, maintains the focus on high achievement for all students, creates a collaborative, results-oriented professional learning community, analyzes and responds to data, supports site leaders and teams in their growth, and evaluates and responds to the effectiveness of instructional practices and interventions. They engage community partners and families in serving the whole child and ensuring ALL children achieve at high levels prepared to succeed in any setting. They will know how to successfully manage an urban elementary school with a high English Learner and low-income population

The Director of 3-8 ELA has strong content knowledge, as well as administrative leadership and project management skills. They should be knowledgeable of the science of reading, as well as common core ELA standards and shifts. The Director of English Language Arts will lead the implementation of the ELA vision of excellence across our TK-5 and TK-8 schools. The Director ensures that school teams develop and implement culturally relevant, rigorous, standards-aligned, research-based, coherent instruction in ELA; and that all teachers receive the necessary support and development to effectively support ALL students to meet their full academic potential.

OUR NETWORK

Education for Change Public Schools (EFCPS) believes it is the right of every child to have access to a high-quality, 21st century education. Our vision is that EFC students challenge the predictable patterns of performance and access to opportunity in this country by demonstrating the essential academic competencies, personal agency, and integrated identity necessary to be prepared for a meaningful and productive life. EFCPS is a charter management organization that serves more than 2,500 children in a diverse portfolio of TK-12 schools in the Fruitvale and Elmhurst neighborhoods of Oakland. Additional information about Education for Change can be found at www.efcps.org.

What you’ll do…

Instructional Leadership:

• Lead, in collaboration with site and Home Office instructional leaders, adoption, codification and implementation of a rigorous, research-based, coherent instructional framework in ELA, grades 3-8, at all sites to achieve high levels of academic performance
• Provide thought partnership and collaboration to high school ELA leaders
• Develop, refine and evaluate student assessments in ELA, grades 3-8
• Design and implement data cycles to drive teacher planning, differentiated instruction, and programmatic assessment
• Monitor and lead the response to network-wide student performance data and effectiveness of instructional practices and interventions in ELA, grades 3-8
• Research and identify pedagogical best practices in 3rd-8th grade ELA instruction
• Other related duties as assigned.

Professional Learning and Talent Development

• Design and facilitate network professional development, including summer New Teacher Trainings and student release day training in ELA, grades 3-8
• Develop and manage a team of instructional leaders focused on teacher support and development in ELA, grades 3-8
• In collaboration with the Home Office Instructional Team, plan and facilitate Instructional Leader professional learning that targets building content development and teacher development practices
• Provide concrete and actionable feedback to site-based instructional leaders to drive instructional improvement

Organizational Leadership and Project Management

• 
  In collaboration with the Chief Academic Officer and other stakeholders, support the development, implementation, and evaluation of the instructional components of the 5 year strategic plan.
• In alignment with the strategic plan, assess the current state of the 3-8 instructional program and design or adapt processes to optimize instructional coherence and alignment across the organization
• Develop a cycle of data-driven continuous improvement for strategic plan initiatives and policies
• Define metrics and key performance indicators with school leaders and ensures usage of accountability systems in alignment to the strategic plan
• Develop trusted relationships with stakeholders, and ensure that stakeholders are kept appropriately informed of the strategic plan initiatives and are encouraged to participate as appropriate
• Advise teams regarding cross-site and cross-content considerations, workflow integration and coordination, and optimization of best practices

What you’ll bring…

• 
  Demonstrated success driving academic and school culture results through others in high performing or high accelerating schools that serve a low-income, high English Learner, urban population
• Belief that ALL students can achieve at high levels
• Strong data analysis and data-driven decision making skills
• Deep understanding of elementary and middle school ELA instructional and administrative practices
• Ability to thrive working with diverse communities by engaging in and leading intentional diversity, equity, and inclusion work such as Leading for Equity, Liberatory Design, and/or other frameworks
• Passion and commitment to using feedback to refine practice and develop leaders via cycles of inquiry and constructive feedback
• Empathy, humility, and a growth mindset
• Minimum of 5 years of ELA teaching experience with a minimum of 2 years of educational leadership experience driving academic and school culture results
• BA from an accredited university and valid Teaching Credential
• Spanish Bilingual a plus

EFC Core Values

• Connected- We continually work to build trusting relationships among students, families, staff, and the Oakland community at large. We are an all-hands-on-deck network driven by empathy. We value our collective identity and the individual identities of our community members and scholars such that we have a sense of collective ownership and responsibility for each other and for our scholars.
• Inclusive- We proactively disrupt predictable patterns of opportunity, power, privilege, and performance. We create an inclusive environment where multiple perspectives are not only valued but sought, where people from all backgrounds feel seen and heard and can thrive, and where we all feel a deep sense of accountability to our mission.
• Interdependent- Our success at every level is dependent on our individual and collective sustainability. To that end, we are transparent, creative, and collaborative problem-solvers who seek to build trusting relationships. We are curious and are open to new ideas while also putting systems in place to ensure continuity so that our employees can stay, grow, thrive, and help make good on our promise to our students and families.
• Learners- We support each other to develop and grow so that we can leverage our collective power, intelligence, and passion on behalf of our students. We lean on home-grown leaders who are rooted in our community. Individuals feel known and are provided opportunities to maximize their potential in alignment with their passions and goals.