Nevada Director of Academics and Talent Development

Description

The Nevada Director of Academics and Talent Development is a unique role, reporting to the Academics Team, that is an extension of the Academics and Talent Development teams at DPPS that is based locally in Nevada. This teammate works to support the academic and cultural excellence of the school through both the development of the leadership team on their leadership skills and the support of teachers and coaches in understanding instruction, pedagogy, curriculum, culture and data. Through these touchpoints the director identifies key levers that drive excellent outcomes and partners with school leaders to enact those levers.

Who You Are

• An educator with an unwavering commitment to the Democracy Prep mission of college success and authentic civic engagement for our scholars.
• A self-reflective and self-aware teammate who is dedicated to aligning their work to Democracy Prep's commitment to antiracism and who is eager to use these skills to contribute to a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• An experienced school leader with experience coaching both teachers and mid-level leaders
• An academic expert who is comfortable providing academic feedback and support across content areas
• An instructional leader who is fluent with all parts of academic pedagogy, including standards, assessments, lesson design and execution
• A team player who quickly builds relationships and work collaboratively with different stakeholders, including school leaders, teachers and teammates
• A cultural expert who is able to analyze data and identify levers to improve classroom instruction
• A clear communicator who is honest, direct, and able to keep scholar learning at the forefront of your work
• An organized professional who prioritizes between and manage multiple workstreams
• A strong communicator (written and oral) who adapts to fit the needs of the audience in order to build a sense of shared purpose and progress forward
• A highly motivated collaborator who identifies problems, understands root causes, and proposes potential for change.
  
  

What You’ll Do

Support/Coach School Leaders In Improving Academic Quality Across the Campuses

• Meet regularly with school leaders, coaches and teachers to identify and enact instructional priorities at each of our Nevada based schools
• Conduct consistent, high-quality classroom observations, including vetting lesson plans, collecting concrete classroom data, and identifying strengths and key levers for observed teachers. Identify trends across classrooms and bring them to school leaders and the Academics team.
• Use data to identify areas that need support at each school, as well as effective practices that should be shared and implemented across the network. Create and enact plans to address the areas that need remediation.
• Support schools in growing their academic and pedagogical expertise through a variety of means including professional development, lesson study groups, co-observations with school leaders, and directly supporting individual teachers. Work with the school-based leadership team to ensure that curriculum is implemented with fidelity and grade-level rigor is consistently achieved.
• Identify and work to overcome stumbling blocks to high quality instruction in classrooms.
• Create and revise high quality, timely, and error free exams, units and lesson materials. Ensure that curricula are clear, well organized, and easily implementable by school partners.
• Support leaders, coaches, and teachers with the implementation of high quality instructional materials selected by the network.
• Drive towards achieving ambitious academic Key Performance Indicators
  
  

Develop the Leadership Team and Bench

• In partnership with the Regional Superintendent and DPPS CMO Team, develop strategic outreach and recruitment plans to attract a diverse network of high quality leadership and teacher candidates. Work with the school teams to create a rigorous process for choosing and evaluating mid-level leader/stipend candidates. In partnership with the VP of Talent Development, develop a leadership development scope and sequence including, coaching tools, PD outlines and resources, and competency maps.
• Work with VP of Talent Development to create new teacher cultural/skill based onboarding process that increases teacher retention and provides the core skills needed to be successful in the classroom
• With the VP of Talent Development, design and lead strategies to better develop and retain mid-level and master teachers and equip school leaders to utilize these strategies.
• With the Regional Superintendent, lead the planning and execution of school based professional development each week.
• Perform other related duties as assigned, including participation in network-wide or department specific initiatives and/or projects.
  
  

Qualifications

• A graduate of a Bachelor’s degree program (required)
• At least 3 years of experience coaching and developing school leaders
• 3 years of school leadership experience strongly preferred