Instructional Specialist 

This position reports to the Director of Curriculum and Instruction. The Instructional Specialist role is two-fold in nature: student-facing and teacher-facing. Main responsibilities are assisting teachers in evaluating student needs, determining action steps for students, and working closely with teachers and the Student Support Team to coach effective, student-centered, differentiated teaching and learning. This specialist works closely with teachers of students who are either facing challenges or needing enrichment, coaching teachers in instructional best practices in the school curricula, effective unit/lesson planning, Responsive Classroom academic competencies, differentiation, and integrating outdoor experiences in the curriculum. This specialist provides small-group targeted instruction and teaching or modeling in the classroom. A positive, clear line of communication between the school, educational evaluators, therapists, and families is paramount. The Instructional Specialist is a seasoned thought leader with varied and vast teaching experience and expertise who works to improve teaching and learning by growing teachers and students. 

Responsibilities Include the Following:

• Partners with Teachers, Principal, and Director of Curriculum and Instruction to promote effective, student-centered teaching and learning (project-based learning, reading/writing workshop model, Bridges in Mathematics, Responsive Classroom, etc.)

• Coordinates school-wide and grade-wide assessments, such as ERB’s CTP-5 and ISEE, and assists in evaluating student and school data.
• Tracks student progress with teachers and administration and communicates next steps to parents in order to help students progress appropriately.
• Cultivates and maintains relationships with local therapists and tutors to make informed recommendations for outside support.
• Manages Learning Profiles in Blackbaud.
• Actively assists with annual admissions testing. 
• Actively supports faculty learning in differentiation and evolving pedagogy through grade-level planning and site-based professional development.
• Oversees all benchmark assessments.
• Provides explicit targeted small-group instruction by pushing in or pulling out students. 
• Regularly observe teachers and collaboratively reflects to improve instruction.
• Engages in professional learning to seek innovative curricula and technological applications. 
• Sets annual goals and works toward them.

• Attends team planning time and department meetings monthly.
• Leads the professional development of Assistant Teachers by holding monthly workshops and coaching them as needed.
• Attends semi-monthly faculty meetings until 4:30 and in-service days, presenting when appropriate.
• Volunteers for service at one or more Fay community events per year.
• Willing and able to routinely and appropriately use a personal smartphone to utilize school apps to communicate, collaborate, and fulfill responsibilities as outlined in this Performance Profile.

• Performs other duties as assigned by the Principal and the Head of School. 
• Supports the School and its Leadership Team.

Competency Profile:

• Exhibits proficiency in identifying and solving student, curricular, and school issues. At the same time, the specialist understands the vision, the mission, the strategic plan, and all policies of the school and, when questions or concerns arise, raises them with
• Celebrates diversity and is proactively inclusive of all racial, cultural, socio-economic, religious, and gender groups. 
• Embraces the four domains of Responsive Classroom: Engaging Academics, Positive Community, Effective Management, and Developmentally Responsive Teaching.

• appropriate colleagues and supervisors.

• Demonstrates effective written and oral communication skills.
• Differentiates instruction to meet the needs of all learners.
• Fosters collaboration among teams to build curricula and ensure others are well-informed of changes, initiatives, and progress.
• Embraces feedback and a culture of continuous improvement.
• Displays attitudes and actions that contribute to a healthy and collegial teacher culture.
• Supports and actively promotes the organization. Positively reflects the organization’s core values and addresses actions that don’t align with those values. 

Qualifications:

• Minimum of 8-10 years of teaching experience across many elementary grades
• Experience working with children with learning differences, superior academic ability, and twice exceptional challenges.
• Possesses extensive knowledge and experience with the various curricula and instructional approaches implemented by the school and experience coaching teachers in these areas.
• Extensive knowledge and training in the Responsive Classroom approach in both the SEL and academic competencies.
• Experience in coaching teachers in the Responsive Classroom competencies.
• Experience with Understanding by Design and in coaching teachers in developing integrated, differentiated, fully developed unit plans.
• Experience with coaching weekly lesson planning sessions.
• Experience in administering the CTP-5.
• Experience in independent schools. 
• Demonstrates a positive, collaborative attitude when working with teachers.
• Ability to enthusiastically work both indoors and outdoors in various weather conditions, including rain, cold, heat, etc., and on various surfaces, some inclined, including grass, dirt, trails, decking, pavement, and concrete.
• Ability to perform sustained standing and walking, navigating stairs, kneeling, lifting, and carrying up to 20 lbs., monitoring children and the immediate environment visibly and audibly, and ability to give audible instructions that English speakers can understand in a loud environment.
• Commitment to ongoing learning, including participating in at least eight hours of summer professional development such as a conference, book, or research on a topic approved by the Principal.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office and Teams