The Director-Teaching and Learning is a critical member of Connecticut’s Program team, and an essential point of integration between leadership and teaching practice, between learning design and learning execution. As the Director- Teaching and Learning you are a pedagogical generalist responsible for staff-wide classroom vision of excellence across Elementary, Humanities (ELA, Social Studies, and Spanish), Secondary Math, and Secondary Science (General Science, Chemistry, Biology, Physical Sciences). You will be responsible for “training the trainer” - curating, codifying, and disseminating instructional resources; supporting City Teams with professional development design; coaching Coaches and managing Content Specialists to execute the professional development experiences required to help corps members and alumni teachers demonstrate leadership through classroom teaching that expands opportunities for students. You have a strong record of coaching and developing adults to affect measurable improvements in student achievement and teacher proficiency. The Director-Teaching and Learning sits on the Central Program team, and reports to the Senior Managing Director of Program.
Curate, Codify, and Disseminate Instructional Resources (20%)
- Work in partnership with TFA’s National content teams, National Board of Professional Teaching Standards, district academic leads, and City Teams to collect, curate, and codify a library of content-related instructional resources (e.g. long-term plans, assessments, rubrics, online tracking tools).
- Support City Teams in navigating instructional resources, and selecting tools that are best aligned to the needs of their context and specific corps members.
Support City Teams with Professional Development Design (20%)
- Work in close partnership with the Senior Managing Director-Program to ensure that Coach execution of professional development cultivates corps members to apply essential leadership levers (Relationships, Vision, Strategic Action, Learning) that enable transformational learning for students.
- Work in close partnership with the Managing Director-Alternate Route to Certification to ensure that Coach execution of professional development cultivates corps members to apply essential, research-proven teacher competencies (knowledge, skills, methods) that enable transformational learning for students.
- Spend time in the field with Coaches to diagnose classrooms and review student data - in order to assess teacher progress toward vision of excellence for rigorous student outcomes in each content area, and to determine and design the city-wide professional development experiences necessary to address trends across classrooms.
- Bring back learning from the field to influence Central Program’s evolution of Program design.
Coach Coaches and Manage Content Specialists (50%)
- Work in close partnership with the Senior Managing Director-Program to ensure that Coaches’ one-on-one support cultivates corps members to apply essential leadership levers (Relationships, Vision, Strategic Action, Learning) that enable transformational learning for students.
- Work in close partnership with the Managing Director-Alternate Route to Certification to ensure that Coaches’ one-on-one support and Content Specialist sessions cultivate corps members to apply essential, research-proven teacher competencies (knowledge, skills, methods) that enable transformational learning for students.
- Spend time in the field with Coaches to diagnose classrooms and review student data, to assess teacher progress toward vision of excellence for rigorous student outcomes in each content area, and to practice the coaching moves necessary to address needs of specific members.
- Catalyze and connect Coaches and Content Specialists to ensure ongoing collaboration that supports corps members in an integrative application.
Regional & Organizational Stewardship (10%)
- All team members meet submission requirements for reimbursements (monthly), timesheets (weekly), and American Express reports (monthly, as needed) to support the organization’s financial standing.
- Support team–wide goals for Connecticut and the National Breakthrough Results through participation in corps member recruitment, selection and matriculation, regional events and programming, team meetings, professional development, and participation in the city-based events to which the team member is assigned, if applicable.
- Experience as a pedagogical generalist across multiple content areas
- Three or more years of demonstrated proficiency in facilitating adult learning, preferably as a Manager of Teacher Leadership Development, or as an instructional dean / coach in a school, district, or network
Work Demands
- Willingness to travel across the Connecticut Region to collaborate with staff across City Teams (Bridgeport, Hartford, New Haven), and have access to a vehicle in order to do so (mileage will be reimbursed)
- Willingness to work some weekends and evenings to facilitate staff member professional development
- Willingness to make at least a 2 year commitment
Skills
- Ability to get results through collective achievement across layers of an organization
- Ability to build relationships and create alignment with individuals from a wide range of perspectives
- Sophisticated ability to influence others (peers and/or corps members) to achieve outcomes
- Deep commitment to Teach For America’s mission and core values
- Excited by working in contexts in which there are not yet clear answers
- Has a “customer service”, consultant orientation to partnership with people who execute work on the ground
- Consistently makes smart choices about what to prioritize and what matters most
- Reflective and proactively work to grow and improve
- Deep commitment to coaching and developing adults