What are the responsibilities and job description for the Patient Education Specialist - High School ELA/Social Studies position at Texas Children's Hospital and Careers?
We’re searching for a Patient Education Specialist (Hospital Teacher) - High School ELA/Social Studies, someone who works well in a fast-paced setting and is deeply committed to supporting children and adolescents with cancer and blood disorders. This is a year‑round teaching position within the Texas Children’s Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Accredited School Program. .In this position, you’ll provide individualized instruction to patients, ensuring academic continuity during treatment and/or hospitalization adapting curriculum to meet each patient's cognitive, emotional, and physical needs, often in collaboration with medical and educational professionals.
In this role, you will serve as a certified teacher providing individualized, developmentally appropriate instruction that ensures academic continuity for students undergoing treatment. Instruction is delivered at the bedside, in the hospital classroom, and through virtual platforms. Lessons are thoughtfully aligned with each student’s home campus curriculum/Individual Education Plan (IEP), Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), 504 plan, and unique medical, cognitive, and emotional needs. This work promotes engagement, normalcy, confidence, and academic stability during an intensely disruptive period in a child’s life.
You will collaborate closely with families, interdisciplinary clinical teams, and home school districts to integrate educational services into each patient’s plan of care and facilitate enrollment, credit accrual, academic placement, and successful reintegration during and after treatment.
The Patient Education Specialist is part of the pediatric hematology/oncology school program team, which includes a Manager/Principal and School Advocacy Coordinators.
Think you’ve got what it takes?
Job Duties & Responsibilities
- Provides individualized educational support through 1:1 sessions or in a hospital classroom setting, aligning instruction with each patient’s current curriculum, Individualized Education Plan (IEP), or Admission Review and Dismissal (ARD) plan
- Plans and prepares lessons and materials tailored to the patient’s academic level, learning style, and physical or cognitive abilities, using insights from assessments and input from the patient’s multidisciplinary team (e.g. Medical, Nursing, Child Life, Social Work, Psychology, and Rehabilitation Services)
- Administers, conducts and reviews neuropsychological, academic, behavioral and learning style assessments, developing Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) and 504 accommodations for qualifying Pre-K through high school patients
- Evaluates, records, and reports patients engagement such as attendance, progress and grades as well as communication with home school district
- Tracks school service interventions and documents time spent and educational goals achieved for patients
- Supports patients through open lab and 1:1 bedside support
- Participates in school visits and conducts presentations to patients and school personnel on serious, life-threatening disease/illnesses and their impact on patient functioning, academic programming, and the type of psychosocial support as needed
- Designs and implements innovative, patient-centered educational programs that accommodate diverse learning needs, align with medical treatment plans, and support academic continuity during hospitalization
Skills & Requirements
- Master’s degree in education, special education or related program required
- TSTC - Texas Standard Teaching Cert by Texas Education Agency required or EDUDIAG - Educational Diagnostician by Texas Education Agency preferred
- Special Education Teaching Certification preferred
- 3 years of instructional experience including interpreting neuropsychological evaluations required
- 3 years of teaching experience in a hospital or specialized school setting preferred