Instructional Specialist // Job Description

**NO TENNIS EXPERIENCE REQUIRED**

The Purpose

Organizational Mission: We enable underserved youth to thrive and strengthen their community through academics, athletics, life skills, and family engagement.

Our Vision: Create access to a fair learning and playing field for Portland’s most underserved youth.

The Opportunity

Portland Tennis and Education (“PT&E”) creates opportunities for underserved Portland youth to thrive through year-round academics, athletics, life skills, and community support. It is the goal of PT&E to ensure that every student involved in our K – 8 program graduates high school with the opportunity and tools to pursue the post-secondary path of their choosing. Through tennis, PT&E instills in young people a love of the game while also strengthening character, building life skills, and inspiring a healthy lifestyle. Each year, PT&E provides each student in our program 900 hours of positive, structured, out-of-school time.

As the Instructional Specialist at PT&E, you will have the opportunity to work directly with students in grades K – 8 and their schools, teachers, and tutors in support of accomplishing academic goals, meeting critical learning objectives, and engaging in fun activities connected to tennis, wellness, and life skills.

You will serve as an advocate for and role model to K – 8 students and their families by demonstrating a commitment to academic excellence and a growth mindset. You will assist in the planning and support implementation of summer curriculum aligned to district standards, enthusiastically facilitate educational activities and interventions, train teammates to effectively monitor student data to enable student progress and mastery, and partner with teachers and families in support of learning.

You will serve as a leader on our team, supporting program growth and improvement, and act as the bridge between our PT&E Classroom Coaches and the teachers at the schools we serve. You may have the opportunity to expand your role by taking on additional academic-related responsibilities in alignment with your skills, interests, and development goals.

Your Role

● Support students with individualized learning plans and group sessions focused on preventing summer learning loss and improving students' literacy and math skills.

● Support Classroom Coaches in the development of curriculum for PT&E’s K - 8 summer programs in alignment with district standards and grant requirements.

● Lead collection, analysis, and utilization of student mastery data to inform academic decision-making and curriculum planning.

● Train staff and volunteers on curriculum creation and implementation, data-driven instruction, and other pedagogy concepts.

● Advocate for students by conducting and enabling targeted academic interventions as needed based on evaluations in tandem with Classroom Coaches.

● Partner with schools and teachers to set conditions for success for students of varied intellectual and physical abilities and learning styles. Foster close relationships with schools to ensure curriculum falls in line with current academic focuses.

● Inspire and stimulate interests outside of school and tennis such as art, music, outdoors, etc.

● As needed, assist with program-related events and activities that benefit students, including fundraisers, one-day youth programs, and more

● The Instructional Specialist reports directly to the Program Director, who is committed to meaningfully mentoring and guiding the Instructional Specialist as they grow, learn, and work to reach near-term and long-term career goals.

As a successful candidate, you have:

● At least two years of experience working directly with early childhood, elementary, and / or middle school youth in an academic environment.

● At least two years of experience developing, adapting, and / or implementing K – 8 curriculum and academic interventions in alignment with national, state, and / or district standards.

● Ability and willingness to work directly with K – 8 students from diverse cultural, academic, and economic backgrounds and students, some of whom have not met grade-level standards.

● Ability and desire to partner closely with students’ schools, teachers, tutors, and school-based support staff.

● Experience collecting, analyzing, and utilizing student data to drive curricular and pedagogical decision-making.

● A positive, team-focused, growth-oriented mindset and unwavering commitment to going above and beyond to support youth to meet their full potential.

● Proficiency and comfort utilizing Google Suite and Zoom

● At least two years part-time or full-time work experience of any kind

● A Bachelor’s or Associate's degree or training / work equivalent

● Spanish language skills

As a successful candidate, you may have (not required):

● Experience training fellow educators on data-driven academics, curriculum, pedagogy

● Experience working with youth from marginalized communities, youth who have experienced trauma, and / or youth with disabilities

● Familiarity with concepts of youth development and athletic coaching best practices

● A passion for and / or experience with the game of tennis

The Details

● This position may be a part-time role at 20 hours a week. Pay commensurate with experience.

● After 30 days of successful employment, Portland Tennis & Education offers group health insurance via Kaiser.

● Hours for the Summer Program will be discussed with the hiring manager to determine schedule, however the working hours will fall between 9am and 3pm, Monday through Thursday.

● This position is set for the summer but has potential for continued employment into the fall based on conversations to be had at the end of the program cycle.

Ideal start date for this position is Monday, June 10th to allow the candidate time to prepare properly for our Summer Program.

Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

At Portland Tennis and Education, we believe that creating a culture of inclusivity - one that celebrates our diversity and builds on its strengths - enriches our community and fosters positive transformation. When we value and leverage the unique identities of our families, staff, and community, we allow for more innovative, collective change.

We strive to create a community that is safe for people of all sexual orientations, gender identities, disabilities, ethnicities, races, religions, nationalities, and cultural backgrounds, and we intentionally approach our hiring process with the same mindset.

We recognize the systemic and institutional inequities that impact those we serve and actively strive to address them while strengthening youth, inspiring families, and building communities that reach their potential.

We embrace a spirit of learning, continual growth, and reflective practice, and we expect that all new team members will bring that same spirit to their role at PT&E.

Job Type: Part-time

Pay: From $25.00 per hour

Expected hours: 20 per week

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• Dental insurance
• Health insurance
• Paid time off
• Vision insurance

Schedule:

• Monday to Friday
• No weekends

Application Question(s):

• Are you looking specifically for a part-time role?

Experience:

• Teaching: 2 years (Required)
• Curriculum development: 2 years (Required)

Language:

• Spanish (Required)

Ability to Commute:

• Portland, OR 97203 (Required)

Ability to Relocate:

• Portland, OR 97203: Relocate before starting work (Required)

Work Location: In person