Principal or Vice Principal Leader Coach
Job Description
ORGANIZATIONAL OVERVIEW
The Philadelphia Academy of School Leaders (“School Leaders”) is a nonprofit organization that develops, engages, and retains Principals and system leaders who transform schools, dramatically improve student outcomes, and drive systemic change to prepare all Philadelphia students for college, career, and life.
Our fundamental belief is that Philadelphia’s Principals and school system leaders change students’ lives. Through an investment in results-driven leadership development experiences, the Philadelphia Academy of School Leaders empowers individuals to drive student outcomes and advance equity in Philadelphia’s district, charter, and faith-based schools.
Our flagship experience, the Neubauer Fellowship in Educational Leadership, provides proven Principals with the resources and guidance to sharpen their leadership capacities. The Fellowship is a transformative two-year experience that develops critical leadership skills needed to elevate school performance and student outcomes in their schools and across the city. Fellows receive best-in-class professional development and build relationships with a network of outstanding peers who share strategies and problem-solve with one another. Through Leaders of Leaders, we support Principal supervisors to effectively supervise and develop Principals, improve Principal practice, and increase student outcomes. Across our programs, School Leaders serves over 150 educational leaders in Philadelphia who collectively impact nearly 100,000 students each and every day.
POSITION OVERVIEW
The Leader Coach will play an instrumental role in supporting School Leaders’ vision of achieving educational equity in Philadelphia so every child in every neighborhood attends a school that prepares all students to attain their dreams. This requires a highly effective Principal in each Philadelphia district, charter, and faith-based school who ensures every student is prepared for college, career, and life. The Leader Coach will develop the capacity of Principals and/or school leaders to drive school level change and achieve dramatically improved student results.
RESPONSIBILITIES
The Leader Coach’s responsibilities will include, but not be limited to, the following:
Coach Individuals and Groups of Principals
- Build strong relationships with Principals that serve as the foundation of coaching
- Establish a high bar for leadership according to School Leaders’ Leadership Levers: Lead Authentically, Develop People, Advance Equity, and Drive Results
- Utilize research-based tools and resources to assess Principal mindsets, skills, and abilities along with their school’s effectiveness based on the Leadership Levers
- Support the Principal to set ambitious and attainable goals for their leadership development, their school’s effectiveness, and all of their students’ results
- Regularly meet with Principals to analyze their goals and progress, create strategic action plans to improve system efficiency, effectiveness, and people’s individual capacity (including the Principal) resulting in improved outcomes
- Regularly observe the Principal’s “leadership in action” onsite and provide feedback and coaching aligned to School Leaders’ Leadership Levers
- Communicate specific and compelling feedback and next steps that motivate leaders, develop their capacity, and accelerate student achievement
- Support and coach Principals in providing teachers and leaders with targeted, actionable feedback and identifying resources aligned with that feedback to improve teaching and leadership practice
- Support the creation and implementation of foundational, instructional, operational, and school culture systems including but not limited to:
- curriculum, instructional approaches, and assessments
- systems for data driven instruction (DDI), observation and feedback, lesson and content internalization, and high-quality adult learning systems
- strong student culture systems, including social emotional learning supports
- strong adult culture systems with clear support and accountability
- tools and processes for coaching grounded in instructional walkthroughs
- approaches to diversity, equity, and inclusion
- Coach the Principal on adaptive leadership elements such as core beliefs, emotional intelligence, team building, and an equity focused mindset
- Develop Principals in their operational management skills to increase efficiency of resource management, budgetary decisions, and school-wide logistics
- Support Principals to create and lead effective school-based leadership teams
Connect Coaching to School Leaders’ Programs
- Support the internalization of skills and mindsets introduced in program and ensure the skills are applied in the Principal’s work
- Collaborate with Program Directors by sharing “in the field learnings” about highly effective practices that can be incorporated into programs
- Analyze and codify high quality practices and resources from schools who range in their ideological and pedagogical approach
- Provide input on user-friendly tools to support implementation of key systems aligned to Leadership Levers and high-quality instruction
- Serve as a thought partner to colleagues, help solve a variety of day-to-day challenges, and generate creative solutions for internal and external improvements
- Collaborate with the School Leaders’ team to develop our vision, strategy, and best practices for leadership development
- Collaborate with the Program Team and system leadership (across district, charter, and faith-based schools) to design and deliver professional development sessions and group coaching for school leaders in School Leaders’ program
- Propose innovative solutions to complex challenges at the school and system level
Evaluate Programs
- Collect and compile data that help measure impact of coaching, which includes identifying and documenting metrics that evaluate progress resulting from coaching engagements
- Routinely collaborative with other Coaches and/or Program Directors to norm and align practices
- Document areas of development, learning, and behavior changes of Principals being coached
- Identify what is being worked on in coaching sessions to inform programming needs
- Gather testimonials of actual progress and change
- Identify mitigating factors that can affect coaching outcomes and can assist in interpreting results
Additionally, the Leader Coach will fulfill any other responsibilities as needed or assigned by the Executive Director.
QUALIFICATIONS
The ideal candidate will demonstrate the following competencies:
- Passionately believes that all students can achieve at high levels
- A fundamental belief that a strong school leader is essential to the success of a school.
- Immediate understanding of what effective teaching looks like and a deep commitment to effective instruction.
- Strong familiarity and expertise with College and Career-Ready standards, such as the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and the PA Core.
- Possess an expertise in designing and facilitating powerful learning experiences for adults with the content expertise to create rich training materials, conceptualize meaningful interactive learning experiences, and facilitate training sessions for school leaders that help them shift their practice and support them in implementing learning experiences at the campus-level.
- Authentic self-awareness, high emotional intelligence, and a strong equity mindset that contribute to a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
- Exhibits a strong focus on goals and results – including a track record of meeting or exceeding goals – and holds self personally accountable
- Demonstrates excellent analytical skills, data-driven decision-making, and judgment
- Communicates effectively in both written and verbal communication – tailor messages for audience, context, and mode of communication
- Builds positive relationships with diverse stakeholders and maintains a service orientation
- Demonstrates excellent project management and implementation skills – works efficiently, maintains attention to detail, and is able to plan, multi-task, adapt, and balance requests from many stakeholders
- Demonstrates an entrepreneurial mindset and ability to work in a fast-paced environment
- Exhibits a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion
- Maintains a positive attitude, flexibility, and humor
The ideal candidate will have the following experience:
- Experience as a K-12 Principal and a proven track record of raising student achievement.
- A proven track record of training, developing, and/or coaching adult learners to improve practice
- Excellent computer skills including Microsoft Office and Google-based applications
- Bachelor’s degree required. Master’s degree in education, public policy, management, or related field preferred.
TO APPLY
Please send your resume and a role-specific cover letter to careers@phillyschoolleaders.org. Applications to this position will be considered on a rolling basis until the position is filled.
Compensation is competitive and based on experience. The Philadelphia Academy of School Leaders, Inc. offers a comprehensive benefits package to all employees.
The Philadelphia Academy of School Leaders, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
For more information about School Leaders, please visit our website at phillyschoolleaders.org.
