Job Description
This is a full-time, remote position anywhere in the contiguous United States, with national travel expected up to 60%.
What You’ll Do:
The Director of Instructional Support for the Elementary Reading Initiative is a systems and instructional leader responsible for leading elementary reading initiatives with district and school leaders to drive dramatic reading improvements for students in partner districts. In this role, the leader builds data-informed plans for the improvement of elementary reading at the district and school levels, strengthens leaders’ instructional and change management skills, and partners with internal and external colleagues for coherent program implementation. This position is part of the program team, which leads innovative research and development projects to achieve impactful outcomes.
Responsibilities:
System Support
- Supports schools and systems in building and maintaining a strong elementary reading system to ensure classrooms consistently deliver high-quality Tier 1 literacy instruction and use data to provide individualized instruction that accelerates learning
- Leads comprehensive system and school reviews to identify strengths and areas for growth, designing multi-year improvement plans and short-term action steps that guide strategic change
- Highlights trends in strengths and opportunities from schools across districts to foster celebration, collaborative problem-solving, and alignment from key stakeholders
- Drives the execution of action plans by tracking progress toward goals and proactively adjusting strategies to respond to evolving needs
- Serves as the primary contact for partners, leveraging deep expertise to provide guidance and connect stakeholders to resources, research, and information to address complex literacy and change management challenges
Partner Capacity-Building
- Builds trusting relationships with school and system leaders, providing high-stakes coaching to strengthen their instructional, relational, and change management capabilities
- Conducts structured school walkthroughs to observe and assess classroom instruction, utilizing instructional practice tools to track progress, support growth, and build leadership capacity
- Customizes pre-designed literacy program materials to align with distinct district and school contexts in preparation for project launches, summits, onsite visits, and virtual professional learning
Program Quality & Innovation
- Manages partner contracts and deliverables using strong decision-making to achieve critical district- and school-level goals
- Evaluates and offers strategic input on in-development design resources, frameworks, and learning experiences, testing prototyped tools to strengthen them for use at scale
- Collaborates closely with internal and external stakeholders to support the implementation of the initiative’s research and evaluation study
- Anticipates operational shifts and contributes to internal learning meetings to continuously track, refine, and improve program implementation over time
Candidate Qualifications and Traits:
- 8+ years of experience in educational leadership, literacy instruction, or a related field, including experience with system-level or school leadership
- Spanish proficiency is highly preferred.
- K–5 Literacy & Instructional Expertise: Deep knowledge of early reading and language development, Tier 1 high-quality instructional materials, and evidence-based strategies to advance outcomes for multilingual learners and students with disabilities
- Data-Driven Instructional Leadership: Proficiency in analyzing student work and school-level disaggregated data to identify systemic gaps, track progress, and guide continuous improvements
- Systemic Change Management: Advanced understanding of school leadership levers, educational structures, and change management implications required to strengthen schools and districts
- Adaptive Coaching & Relationship Building: Proven ability to build swift rapport, establish deep trust, and provide high-stakes coaching to diverse school and system leaders
- Evidence-Based Program Evaluation: Ability to apply educational research and analyze prototyped tools to design, implement, and continuously improve large-scale literacy initiatives
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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