Literacy Specialist, Alpha - $100,000/year USD

• $100,000 annual salary, disbursed weekly, including health, dental, and vision coverage from day one
• On-site placement at a single Alpha campus: Phoenix, AZ; Oklahoma City or Tulsa, OK; Nashville, TN; Austin, Fort Worth, Houston (South Houston or The Woodlands), or Plano, TX; Park City (Salt Lake City), UT; or Dorado, Puerto Rico (relocation assistance available)
• 40-hour workweek, entirely in-classroom with students in grades K-2
  
  

You have invested years in mastering structured literacy—Orton-Gillingham, LETRS, Wilson, IMSE, or a Master's in reading. You recognize a student's miscue and pinpoint the phonemic gap instantly. You build phonics lessons without a script. That level of expertise is expected. It is not what sets you apart.

What sets you apart is that young students respond to you with enthusiasm and energy. At Alpha, this position is fundamentally a Guide role: a dynamic, engaging presence children want to work with. Your structured-literacy credentials open the door; your capacity to command the attention of a K-2 classroom during a 20-minute workshop determines whether you are hired. If the phrase "dynamic, engaging presence" does not describe you accurately, this role is not a fit.

Alpha has redesigned traditional instruction. Students progress through academic content independently via AI-adaptive applications—no lectures, no textbooks, no district pacing calendars. Your role represents the one place human expertise cannot be replaced. You create small-group reading workshops informed by live student performance data, and you facilitate motivation sessions designed to ensure 100% of students meet their weekly app targets, using Alpha's motivational framework (school currency, leaderboards, age-appropriate game mechanics).

Your initial months focus on building credibility with students. Workshops must be engaging, appropriately leveled, and demonstrably effective. Student satisfaction metrics and "love your Guide" survey results (goal of 90% ) provide direct feedback. Once you establish that trust, your responsibilities expand: analyzing AI-generated performance insights to refine upcoming instruction, communicating fluency progress and decoding milestones to families, and contributing to the evolution of Alpha's K-2 literacy approach as it integrates with adaptive platforms. As Alpha opens additional campuses, your work becomes the blueprint for reading instruction at scale.

Prior to an offer, you will submit a brief video in which you tell a captivating story for young children, and you will spend a full day on campus delivering instruction to K-2 students. Low energy with children will disqualify you, regardless of your qualifications. This is intentional. Apply today.

What You Will Be Doing

• Creating and facilitating small-group reading workshops for K-2 students, rooted in structured-literacy approaches (Orton-Gillingham, Wilson, LETRS, IMSE, or comparable), informed by live student data
• Conducting daily motivation sessions that ensure 100% of your students achieve weekly goals on adaptive-learning applications, applying Alpha's motivational framework (school currency, leaderboards, age-appropriate game mechanics)
• Delivering and evaluating running records, fluency assessments, and decoding diagnostics to monitor progress and refine instruction for subsequent sessions
• Analyzing AI-generated performance insights from Alpha's adaptive platforms to differentiate instruction dynamically, not only during lesson preparation
• Serving as the approachable, high-energy adult your K-2 students are excited to see each day
  
  

What You Won’t Be Doing

• Implementing a published reading curriculum, scripted program, or district pacing calendar; you construct your own lessons using student data
• Delivering whole-class lectures; all instruction occurs in small, targeted groups while students complete academic subjects through adaptive applications
• Serving as a reading consultant, instructional coach, or district-level specialist; you work directly with students in the classroom every day
• Managing a conventional classroom schedule—subject-by-subject lectures, homework checks, test preparation; your time is allocated to workshops, motivation sessions, and data-informed small groups
• Grading homework or producing report cards; student progress is captured in app analytics and your running records
  
  

Literacy Specialist Key Responsibilities

Provide structured-literacy instruction that produces measurable acceleration in K-2 reading outcomes, including phonics, fluency, and decoding.

Basic Requirements

• Structured-literacy certification (Orton-Gillingham, LETRS, Wilson Reading System, IMSE, CERI, Neuhaus, UFLI, or equivalent) OR a Master's degree in reading instruction
• Bachelor's degree in any discipline, plus at least 2 years of full-time K-2 structured reading instruction in a school or clinical environment, using systematic phonics or structured literacy
• Proven ability to design independent reading lessons and clearly explain your instructional methods and content, without dependence on a published program
• Willingness to work on-site full-time at one Alpha campus: Phoenix, AZ; Oklahoma City or Tulsa, OK; Nashville, TN; Austin, Fort Worth, Houston (South Houston or The Woodlands), or Plano, TX; Park City (Salt Lake City), UT; or Dorado, Puerto Rico (relocation assistance available)
• Willingness to instruct all K-2 students (not exclusively struggling readers) and to incorporate AI and adaptive-learning platforms into everyday instruction
• Legal authorization to work in the U.S. or Puerto Rico without requiring visa sponsorship
• Bilingual proficiency in English and Spanish required for the Dorado, Puerto Rico campus
  
  

Nice-to-have Requirements

• Practical experience with AI-powered or adaptive reading platforms (e.g., Amira, Lexia, i-Ready, Reading Plus) for instructional planning or student data interpretation
• Documented record of measurable reading gains (fluency increases in WCPM, accuracy improvement, decoding level progression) you can quantify
• Experience in non-traditional or innovative school environments (charter, micro-school, Montessori, hybrid)
• Experience performing, coaching youth sports, or otherwise engaging a K-2 audience outside formal reading instruction
  
  

About Alpha

Want to join a learning rebellion that’s transforming the traditional classroom?

Alpha School is on a mission to reshape education with a bold approach that harnesses AI to accelerate learning and unleash student potential.

They don’t play by the old rules.

Alpha is creating a new paradigm where students master core academics in just two hours a day, freeing up time for hands-on, passion-driven learning that truly prepares them for the real world.

Alpha School is rewriting the rules of education.

Sounds too good to be true? It’s not.

There is so much to cover for this exciting role, and space here is limited. Hit the Apply button if you found this interesting and want to learn more. We look forward to meeting you!

Working with us

This is a full-time (40 hours per week), long-term position. The position is immediately available and requires entering into an independent contractor agreement with Crossover as a Contractor of Record. The compensation level for this role is $50 USD/hour, which equates to $100,000 USD/year assuming 40 hours per week and 50 weeks per year. The payment period is weekly. Consult www.crossover.com/help-and-faqs for more details on this topic.

Crossover Job Code: LJ-4849-US-Austin-LiteracySpecia.060