Instructional Support Senior Manager, Mathematics Program
Job Description
SENIOR MANAGER, MATHEMATICS PROGRAM (INSTRUCTIONAL COACH)
Start Date: As Soon As Possible
Team: Program
Location: NYC partner schools (various locations; TBD) ~4 days/week & Blue Engine HQ, Downtown Manhattan 1 days/week
Who We Are
We believe that the current structure of classrooms actively contributes to massive untapped human potential and an epidemic of lost talent in historically oppressed communities across this nation. Blue Engine partners with schools to fundamentally redesign the traditional classroom and employ an innovative team teaching model, dramatically accelerating academic progress so that all students have the choice to pursue college and career opportunities that reflect their unique talents.
To achieve this, we recruit, train, and support recent college graduates who devote 1-2 years of service (as AmeriCorps members) to accelerating academic achievement in high school classrooms. Full-time Blue Engine Teaching Assistants (“BETAs”) partner with teachers in critical gateway skills: mathematics and literacy. This model dramatically accelerates learning in a given year, inspires students to achieve their potential, and pushes the boundaries of what’s possible in classrooms. In 2017-18, 70 BETAs will work alongside teachers in 9 middle and high schools in New York City, with regional growth planned for the fall of 2018.
The Role
We are looking for an incredible mathematics instructional coach. Reporting to the Vice President of NYC Program Implementation and working as part of a school support team, you will play a key role in deepening and broadening our impact in NYC classrooms, and helping to build and refine our model to prepare for regional and national growth.
The Senior Manager of Mathematics will directly coach a portfolio of 6 math teams across several partner schools. You will manage many internal and external relationships (BETAs, teachers, principals) and spend 80%+ of your time in NYC schools coaching BETA-teacher teams. You will have a lot of autonomy with your teams, while at the same time, working collaboratively with the entire program team to constantly learn, improve, and refine our collective work across all our classrooms.
This is a perfect opportunity for someone who loves instructional coaching, believes we must transform traditional classrooms, believes in teams, and is excited to play a critical role in building, designing, and proving out our program model and coaching approach in classrooms every day.
Primary Responsibilities
By providing effective instructional and team teaching coaching and support for teacher-BETA teams, the Senior Manager, Mathematics Program is on the hook for:
● Maximum student academic growth in one year
● Effective and strong BETA/teacher teams
● Strong relationships with multiple key stakeholders, including principals, teachers, school admin, and BETAs
Specific responsibilities include:
● Working with multiple classroom teams (lead teacher + BETAs) to improve mathematics achievement and instructional practice and reach highly ambitious and inspiring student outcomes
● Coaching teams to set clear, measurable, outcome-oriented academic goals for the year and plan professional development opportunities around those academic goals
● Supporting teachers in developing strong high leverage teaching practices through regular observation, one-on-one coaching, co-planning and feedback
● Supporting curriculum and instructional creation and ongoing decisions
● Collaborating with teachers to find real solutions to challenges faced in the classroom, using data to drive decision making and impact lesson preparation
● Motivating team to reach increasingly high levels of student learning and quality of work
● Advising teachers on classroom environment and team morale
● Monitoring and improving program implementation in each classroom
● Continuously monitoring, analyzing, and interpreting student learning data to inform instruction, individualized student interventions, and coaching supports
● Maintaining, sharing, and leveraging best-practice research
● Contributing to the design and lead implementation of org-wide instructional initiatives
● Supporting the development of the mathematics model by consistently evaluating strengths and areas of growth
Who We Need
Our belief in teams extends beyond the classrooms; we fundamentally believe that we are better together than we are as individuals. Our team supports one another to reflect, improve, and push our individual and collective work to new levels. Blue Engine is a good fit for professionals who possess strong personal drive; demonstrate exemplary professional behavior and values; and who are resourceful, responsible, tenacious, and independent.
You want to be part of something bigger than yourself, driving toward systemic change for students across this country. You will join us in approaching your work through a lens of inclusivity and equity, seeking to understand root causes, trends, and systems of oppression.
Specifically, we are searching for an individual who has/is:
Knowledge/Experience
● 4+ years of mathematics teaching experience (NYC Secondary and Middle School mathematics experience HIGHLY preferred) with a proven track record of success with students
● 1+ years in a leadership position supporting the learning/growth of individual adults and a team (e.g. grade-level or content team)
● Well versed in mathematics content and pedagogy
● Evidence of facilitating dramatic gains in student learning and achievement
● Previous experience in a startup/entrepreneurial environment or education reform a plus
Skills
● Ability to see the big picture of mathematics teaching and learning in a classroom and provide comprehensive and actionable feedback
● Ability to gather and analyze data to provide critical insight into planning, executing highly effective instruction, and strategically allocate resources (human resources, instructional, etc.) to support all students’ learning
● Ability to develop highly effective long term, unit, weekly, and daily plans
● Models outstanding instruction and mentorship for teachers
● Exceptional ability to build relationships with, influence, and motivate adults
● Seeks feedback and consistently reflects on their practice; can articulate their strengths and their areas for growth
● Tries new things and takes risks in the name of improving student outcomes; is open to new/ innovative ideas and wants to try them
● Can operate brilliantly in grey space–proactively assesses challenges, identifies flexible, effective solutions in ambiguous and complex situations
● Proactively seeks diverse perspectives to inform decision making and planning
● Thrives in a highly collaborative setting
● Can translate organizational and program vision into specific strategies and operate independently to execute on those strategies
Mindsets
● Believes that every student and teacher has the ability to grow and be successful
● Believes in questioning current structures and determining if they lead to equitable academic experiences for all students
● Believes supporting students social and emotional cognition is equally as important to supporting student academic cognition
● Believes in the importance of giving and receiving feedback consistently in both formal and informal ways, and is excited by the opportunity to build skill in this area
● Sense of humor and joy is a must
What We Offer
In addition to competitive salary and 100% medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees, we also offer:
● 403b retirement plan with employer match
● 20 days of paid time off per year in addition to three weeks of paid holiday time
● Pre-tax commuter benefits
Our Approach to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity
Blue Engine is more than an “equal opportunity employer.” We acknowledge the roles we play as educators and leaders in the very tangible systems of oppression and racism that exist in our city, our communities, and our classrooms, and strive to become an actively anti-racist organization. We do this first by articulating the value of diversity, inclusivity, and anti-racism as separate yet interwoven concepts; we evaluate all decisions and policies through the lens of diversity, inclusivity, and anti-racism; we pursue opportunities for continued learning about how historic and current systems of oppression manifest in individuals and organizations; we strive to increase our collective awareness of the cultural values, biases, and differences in self and others; we utilize skills of interruption to bring to bear cultural breaches along the lines of diversity, inclusivity, and anti-racism, and combine these approaches to embrace and resolve conflict while fostering growth. We make this commitment because we know it enables us to more meaningfully connect with each other, our students, and the communities we serve.
