Instructional Support Teacher Leadership Coach
Job Description
Overview of Teach Plus
The mission of Teach Plus is to empower excellent, experienced, and diverse teachers to take leadership over key policy and practice issues that advance equity, opportunity, and student success. The organization empowers expert teachers to advance policy changes and improve instructional leadership and teacher supports; trains and coaches teacher leaders to successfully mobilize and lead teacher teams; and empowers teacher leaders to be change agents among their peers and policy makers. Since 2009, Teach Plus has trained thousands of teacher leaders across the country who are driving policy changes and improving the instructional practices of teachers to create an education system driven by equity, access, and excellence for all students.
Position Description
Teach Plus’ Teacher-Led Practice Initiatives are innovative programs that engage, develop and support teacher leaders to generate, implement and manage change in district & school policies that impact teaching and learning, school culture & climate, and teaching practice. The Teacher Leadership Coach will train and coach a cohort of Chicago Public School Teacher Leaders as they lead change in their individual schools as a part of the Chicago Network for School Improvement (NSI-Chicago). The Teacher Leadership Coach is a critical leadership opportunity for a skilled coach who is looking to support school reform driven by teacher leaders.
NSI-Chicago Teacher Leaders work together as teams of high-performing educators with administrators that understand the power of shared leadership. Teacher Leaders, with the support of their NSI school network team, Teacher Leadership Coach and Continuous Improvement Specialist, serve in leadership roles, leading teams of their peers in collaborative inquiry to support the work of their grade level or content teams in the school to significantly increase student achievement. This is traditionally a school-based coaching position. Given the health circumstances and opening decisions by CPS, all coaching will be virtual until otherwise determined to be safe.
Teach Plus has identified five attributes that effective teacher leaders use to improve student outcomes across their schools, to which the Teacher Leadership Coach supports Teacher Leaders in developing in the following areas:
- Skillful facilitators of adult learning
- Evidence-based decision makers
- Purpose-driven instructional leaders
- School wide change agents
- Equity advocates
An ideal candidate embodies these attributes and demonstrates strengths in developing these capacities in others.
Specifically, the Teacher Leadership Coach is responsible for:
Ongoing In-School Support
- Foster High Functioning, High Impact Teacher Leader-led teams.
- Observe and strategically contribute in weekly Teacher Leader-led team meetings and professional development.
- Ensure that the primary work of each team is to improve the equitable teaching and learning for all students through use of evidence-based continuous improvement cycles.
- Ensure that teacher leader initiative work is based in evidence and achieves desired impact on instructional practice and student learning.
- Coach and Develop Teacher Leaders. Plan and facilitate teacher leader cohort meetings. Meet weekly with each Teacher Leader to plan for upcoming team meetings, debrief previous meetings, and engage in leadership coaching and feedback.
- Support School Leadership: Serve as part of the school leadership team. Meet regularly with principal and school administration to ensure program fidelity.
Out of School Support and Development
- With support of Teach Plus staff and Continuous Improvement Specialist, Teacher Leadership Coaches collaborate across the Network to provide the following out-of-school support for the Teacher Leaders:
- Plan for and deliver portions of the Summer Institute, a multi-day hands-on training for Teacher Leaders.
- Plan for and deliver professional development sessions (cohort meetings and quarterly convenings) for Teacher Leaders across the Network.
- With support of Teach Plus staff, Teacher Leadership Coaches collaborate with district and network leaders to monitor progress, build district and network capacity to support teacher leadership, and share best practices.
- Attend designated district and network professional development to ensure alignment of support with district and network priorities.
- Meet with Teach Plus staff to review data and discuss priorities.
- Identify opportunities for collaboration and best practice sharing.
- Works with the Teach Plus national staff and the National Instructional Leadership Team to develop systems that allow teacher leadership to be implemented more efficiently and effectively
- Collaborate with the National Instructional Leadership Team to communicate critical support, outcomes, metrics and resource needs.
Coach Professional Learning
Teach Plus invests heavily in the development of the coaching team to ensure that coaches learn from and with each other in the following ways:
- Weekly coaches’ meetings with the NSI Program Manager and other National Instructional Leadership Team members, as appropriate.
- Monthly meetings with Continuous Improvement Specialists, Content Specialist and Equity Specialists, as needed.
- Bi- monthly virtual Teach Plus Coach PLCs with other Teacher Leadership Coaches across the country focusing on common coaching problems of practice.
- Consistent feedback and support through one-on-one meetings with the National Managing Director of Teacher Leadership Programs.
III. Qualifications
To be successful in this role, ideal candidates should have:
- 6+ years in the education field, with preference given to candidates who have both a teaching background and experience coaching teachers and school leaders in an urban environment
- Preference given to leaders who have led instructionally transformational work in the urban context
- Instructional coaching experience preferred
- A relentless focus on data, including analysis and using it to inform instruction and make continuous improvement decisions
- Experience in leadership development and facilitation of inquiry with teachers and/or school leaders
- Commitment to and previous experience with educational equity and a belief in the power of teachers to bring about positive change for all students
Commitment to Diversity
In order to better-serve the teachers and students at the core of our mission, Teach Plus is committed to maximizing the diversity of our organization. We are an equal opportunity employer and encourage individuals of all ethnic and racial backgrounds and gender identities to apply to our positions.
Start Date and Term
The start date for this position is September 2020, contingent upon finalization of funding. This is a multi-year grant-funded position, with renewal on an annual basis based on performance, funding of continued work with partners, and needs of the organization.
Compensation and Benefits
Compensation is based on prior experience and qualifications. Full benefits package includes medical, dental, retirement, disability, life insurance, and generous paid time off benefits.
VII. How to Apply
To apply, please complete an online application found here. Teach Plus will receive applications until the position is filled.
Application Link: https://teachplus.tfaforms.net/328021
