Job Title: Educational Aide
School Year: 2021-2022

The Government of the District of Columbia values the safety of our employees, our residents, and our visitors. In support of these values, if you are selected for this job, effective November 1, 2021 you must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, except when vaccination is not medically advised or violates your sincerely held religious beliefs. If you are invited to join our team, you must submit proof that you are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by uploading a copy of your vaccination card, or uploading proof of your approved medical or religious exemption, to your candidate dashboard. If you are granted an exemption, you must submit to weekly COVID-19 testing and will be required to upload weekly a negative COVID-19 test to maintain employment with the Government of the District of Columbia. You will not be extended an offer of employment until you comply with the requirement to upload your vaccination card or your approved medical or religious exemption.

Our students need your expertise, passion and leaders

We are looking for highly motivated and skilled talent to join our team at District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS). We seek individuals who are passionate about transforming the DC school system and making a significant difference in the lives of public school students, parents, principals, teachers, and central office employees.

DCPS serves more than 51,000 students in the nation's capital through the efforts of approximately 4,000 educators in 117 schools. As part of a comprehensive reform effort to become the preeminent urban school system in America, DCPS intends to have the highest-performing, best paid, most satisfied, and most honored educator force in the nation and a distinctive central office staff whose work supports and drives instructional excellence and significant achievement gains for DCPS students.

On a daily basis, the educational aide performs a variety of duties that involve working with students individually and in small groups, reinforcing daily lessons, motivating learning, assessing progress, assisting with classroom management, and other similar duties as assigned. Position Overview
The Educational Aide is located in all public schools within the DCPS system. Situated at the center of national government, the goal of DPCS is to provide students with a quality education that prepares them to become future leaders, productive citizens, and individuals who are engaged in the life of the community. The District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) has students with disabilities that require the services and supports of a variety of Educational Aides pursuant to their Individual Education Plan (IEP).

1. General Educational Aides provides a variety of duties that involve working with students individually and in small groups, reinforcing daily lessons, motivating learning, assessing progress, assisting with classroom management. The General Educational Aide will receive assignments from the Recruitment and Selection Team in the Office of Talent and Culture (OTC) - Division of Talent Acquisition and Retention.
2. Special Education Aides assists teachers in the development and administration of the instructional plan for students with disabilities, support student's individual needs such as toileting, feeding, dressing (if necessary), and collect student data when requested.
3. Dedicated Aides provides 1:1 support to their assigned students; and will receive assignments from the Academic Programs Team in the Office of Teaching and Learning (OTL) - Division of Specialized Instruction. There are two types of dedicated aides:
   • Dedicated Instructional Aides provides physical prompting, assistance with daily living skills (including toileting and feeding), assistance with orientation and mobility, applied behavior analysis (ABA), and reinforcement of skills and concepts introduced by a teacher. These aides ensure that their assigned student have maximum engagement with academic instruction and support with self-care.
   • Dedicated Behavioral Aides provides crisis prevention, passive physical management, data collection for functional behavioral analysis (FBA) and/or implementation of a behavior interventional plan (BIP), and data collection on the results of positive behavioral supports. These aides help ensure that their assigned students do not engage in dangerous elopement, major property destruction, and/or serious imminent danger to self and/or others.
4. English Language Learners (ELL) Aides provides support to students to help monitor their progress in their English language acquisition and the continued development of their home language. ELL Aide assists teaching staff in implementing research-based practices including data collection, how to support each stage of language acquisition, the classroom set-up of culturally and linguistically responsive environments, and language modeling and bridging. The English Language Learners (ELL) Aide will receive assignments from the Academic Programs Team in the OTL - Language Acquisition Division and the Division of Early Childhood Education.
5. Early Childhood Education Aides provides hands-on help to children and helps to monitor their progress. The ECE Aide ensures the physical environment is safe and healthy; assists children with daily living skills (including toileting and dressing); helps the teacher observe the skills of individual children, assesses their strengths and the areas that need improvement; organizes and prepares instructional materials; co-supervises the class at all times and when teacher is not present. The Early Childhood Education Aide will receive assignments from the Academic Programs Team in the OTL- Division of Early Childhood Education.

This position is a safety-sensitive position. As a result, throughout employment this position will be subject to the Employee Mandatory Drug and Alcohol Testing Policy.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate in the implementation of the daily lesson plans by performing tasks that reinforce learning
• Assist the classroom teacher in regularly observing students and taking anecdotal notes to inform planning, arrangement of small groups, and assessments
• Help maintain accurate student records
• Work closely with students who may require individual or close attention
• Assist the teacher with the development of individualized programs
• Read to students, listen to and write down their dictations, and model language by conversing with students throughout the day
• Work with groups of students engaged in drawing, writing, centers, or similar work while the teacher is otherwise occupied
• Assist in the administration of the instructional plan for students with disabilities
• Address multiple intelligences of each student through lesson plans and materials
• Infuse culturally relevant, anti-bias materials and pedagogical strategies
• Maintain on-going communication with families
• Implement a variety of instructional groupings of students (small group and cooperative learning)
• Perform other related duties as assigned

Click here for a detailed breakdown of the responsibilities for each educational aide specialization.

Qualifications

• Associate's Degree or 48 college credit hours required
• Child Development Associates credential is preferred for Early Childhood Education Aides
• Experience working with students with disabilities is preferred for Special Education Aides
• Proficiency in English and Spanish required for English Language Learner Aides

Personal Qualities of Top Candidates

• Commitment to Equity: Passionate about closing the achievement gap and ensuring that every child, regardless of background or circumstance, receives an excellent education.
• Leadership: Coaches, mentors, and challenges others to excel despite obstacles and challenging situations.
• Focus on Data-Driven Results: Relentlessly pursues the improvement of central office performance and school leadership, instruction, and operations, and is driven by a desire to produce quantifiable student achievement gains.
• Innovative Problem-Solving: Approaches work with a sense of possibility and sees challenges as opportunities for creative problem solving; takes initiative to explore issues and find potential innovative solutions.