Director of Instructional Support- Elementary Reading Initiative

This is a full time position located from a remote office anywhere in the country with a requirement of up to 50% national travel in accordance with public health guidelines.

 

What You’ll Do:

The Director-Instructional Support, Elementary Reading Initiative (DIS-ERI) is our systemic and instructional leader on the ground with our partners. Your primary responsibility is to lead with excellence the ERI with school district and school leaders, aligned with its theory of change and in pursuit of dramatic reading improvements for all children in the districts with which we partner. The DIS-ERI is responsible for building data-informed plans for improvement of elementary reading at the district and school levels, strengthening leaders’ instructional and change management skills, and partnering with internal and external colleagues to ensure the implementation of ERI is coherent. You will report to the Senior Director, ERI and work on our Program Team, which leads innovative research & development projects for the organization. Specifically, you will:

Responsibilities:

 

System Support 

• Support a portfolio of schools and systems to build, strengthen, and maintain a strong Elementary Reading System that ensures entire schools of classrooms deliver consistently strong Tier 1 literacy instruction to all children and data-informed individualized instruction that boosts and accelerates learning from Tier 1
• Lead system and school reviews to diagnose strengths and opportunities and work closely with partners to develop multi-year strategic maps of improvement and short cycle action plans to guide change
• Serve as the primary point of contact for partners and their questions; connect partners to resources, information and research from within the network and across the sector to help schools and systems solve targeted literacy and change management challenges

Partner Capacity-Building

• Build relationships with school and system leaders and strengthen the instructional and change management capacities of these leaders 
• Customize pre-designed ERI deliverables to reflect district and school context and internalize in preparation for project launch, summits, and key opportunities for educator professional learning 

Program Quality & Innovation

• Manage partner contracts and deliverables to achieve district- and school-level goals
• Support the implementation of a research study of the initiative, in close collaboration with the SD, an external evaluator, and our internal Research & Development team
• Prepare for and actively participate in internal learning meetings to monitor and continuously improve the implementation of ERI in both the short- and long-term, in collaboration with SD-ERI, SD-Elementary Reading Design & Implementation, Director-ML Support,  and our internal Research & Development team

Required Candidate Qualifications:

8+ years of educational experience and 3+ years of system-level leadership or school leadership

Candidate Qualifications and Traits:
 

• Spanish proficiency is highly preferred. 
• Experience leading instructional improvement at the school level, with a track record of improving reading achievement and language development for multilingual learners 
• Knowledge of school leadership levers, decisions, and change management implications — understand and able to provide recommendations on the full range of decisions that leaders can make at the school level to organize instruction, staff and student/family engagement
• Quick ability to understand the assets, needs and personalities of a school system in order to help develop plans that will work for their context
• Strong instructional instincts and experience in elementary reading and in supporting multilingual learners
• Great communication skills verbally and in writing, with an ability to develop quick rapport and build trust
• Detail orientation, organization and ability to keep multiple projects moving forward concurrently
• Data driven orientation and a commitment to whatever works best rather than attachment to pet theories or particular ideologies
• Versatility and a total learner mentality: comfort learning about new content areas and approaches to work and putting them into practice with partners
• Travel often includes early morning departures and/or overnight stays and is estimated to be 50-60%. A flexible schedule Monday through Friday is required. Instruction Partners covers all travel expenses.
• This role is for immediate hire.

Other Considerations:

Timeline:

Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Hiring

At Instruction Partners, we know that difference enhances, transforms and strengthens our ability to serve students and schools. We invite and celebrate diversity of all perspectives, and we are deeply committed to ensuring equitable access and voice throughout our organization. Instruction Partners is proudly an equal opportunity workplace, and we value the inclusion of persons who have experienced poverty and/or for whom English is not their first language, and every race, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, culture, ancestry, religion, national orientation, age, marital status or Veteran status. Join us, and let's work together to support great teaching and accelerate learning for every student.

Compensation:

The salary for this role is $120,000. Detailed information about the organizational compensation philosophy can be found here. Competitive benefits and private retirement investment options are available, as well as a generous vacation policy. See our detailed benefits package here: 2023-2024 Benefits in Brief Overview.

Our Vision

All students experience an excellent education that prepares them to contribute to their community, achieve economic security, and pursue their dreams.

Our Mission

We strengthen instructional leadership in schools, school systems, and states to ensure teachers have the support they need to improve learning experiences and learning outcomes for students - with attention to students of color, students experiencing poverty, multilingual learners, and students with disabilities.

How We Work

Instruction Partners is a nonprofit organization dedicated to excellent instruction for all students, with a focus on students in poverty, students with disabilities, students learning English, and students of color. We keep one foot in practicality and the other in evidence-based best practices, because we believe that leveraging high-quality, grade-level content and providing just-in-time supports will accelerate learning for all students.

Instruction Partners spends time getting to know the needs of the educators, leaders, and systems it serves, allowing the team to custom-build service plans to support partner goals. Partnerships include on-the-ground support, and partnership team members serve as thought partners to the school systems they serve, a team educators can reach out to and feel supported by.

Instruction Partners provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or genetics. In addition to federal law requirements, Instruction Partners complies with applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment in every location in which the company has facilities. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.

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