Teaching + Learning Lead

About Caliber Schools
Our mission at Caliber Schools is to shift the experiences, expectations, and outcomes for students in historically underserved communities. We provide students with a challenging and engaging personalized education that equips them with the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in competitive colleges, careers, and communities. Caliber graduates will be academically college ready ; have emotional intelligence or 'EQ'; be critical thinkers , and have the skills and desire to be changemakers in their communities and the world.
Caliber's four graduate pillars-- Heart, Smart, Think, Act --guide our work. Caliber teaches computer science as a core academic subject K-8th grade to directly challenge the inequitable presence of women and underrepresented minorities in the computer science industry. We are a community-based organization and celebrate the diversity of the communities we serve.  Our parents are active partners; frequently engaging through school events, restorative practices, and academic support.
We are looking for a leader who wants the opportunity to use their voice to build something new; to be a part of a team that's building something from the ground up. Our first school, Beta Academy in Richmond, CA, opened in 2014 and is now a fully grown K-8 serving 800 students.  ChangeMakers Academy in Vallejo, CA opened in the fall of 2016. ChangeMakers now serves almost 500 students, TK-4th and 6th/7th grades and will be fully grown in 2018. We plan to open additional schools in 2018-2021 as we grow to nearly 4,000 seats K-12 in the Bay Area.
 
Overview of the Role
The Teaching + Learning Lead  is someone who is passionate about instruction.  Your chief responsibility is to bring evidence-based practices into classrooms by working with executive principals, grade level teams, and teachers with the goals of increasing student engagement and achievement, and building teacher capacity in our schools.
The Teaching + Learning Lead will work closely with the Chief Academic Officer (CAO) to align academics across "Gen-Ed", Special Education and English Language Learning.  This person will:

1. Act as an added support for Executive Principals in coaching APs and teachers on prioritized instructional strategies
2. Progress monitor by collecting data and providing feedback
3. Support Executive Principals with the development and refinement of curriculum, assessments, and/or professional development
4. Support in the creation of a core set of instructional strategies and metrics to define Caliber Teacher performance and instruction

This position reports to the Chief Academic Officer, is based out of the School Support Office and plays a critical role within Caliber Schools to drive excellent student outcomes. This is not a supervisory position and does not include formal evaluation of colleagues.
 
Responsibilities
Day to Day

• Regularly observe teachers to provide feedback to the CAO and Executive Principals on implemented instructional strategies
• Work with the CAO in designing a teaching and learning vision that integrates Caliber's Graduate Pillars (Heart, Smart, Think, Act) and our values
• Support the CAO in the design and execution of the performance management system for teachers. Align performance management system to the school's instructional coaching.
• Works alongside CAO to develop the vision for and execution of academic learning in summer PD and throughout the school year for teachers and staff
• Strengthen and align teaching and learning systems for ensuring tiered support to students which include:
• Student Success Team (SST)
• 504 Plan
• Response To Intervention
• Personalized learning
• Collaborate with CAO and CEO to develop organizational initiatives
• Support Executive Principals with oversight of compliance with local, state, and national standards
• Work with the CAO to support Executive Principals to develop leadership pipelines

Lead with a Deliberate Equity Agenda

• Support the development of Caliber's academics, school culture, and Special Education programs while prioritizing Caliber's vision on equity
• Use data to identify gaps among our student subgroups; plan and lead teams to execute to close gaps
• Build inclusive teams that are culturally competent and aligned with Caliber's equity agenda

Participate in Caliber Schools professional community

• Actively participate as a member of the School Support Office
• Attend weekly 1:1s with the CAO
• Attend and lead portions of the Executive Principal and AP Professional Learning Community (PLC) meetings
• Perform other duties as assigned by the CAO
• Operate at all times in accordance with the organization's values, mission, vision, and plans

 
Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree (required); Master's Degree in Education (preferred)
• Five or more years of combined teaching and coaching experience with exemplary results
• At least 2 years of school leadership or teacher coaching experience
• A strong track record with serving students with IEPs
• Experience developing curriculum and assessments
• Experience and expertise serving ELL populations with strong track record of success
• Experience with and/or deep understanding of restorative practices and social emotional learning preferred
• Experience working with diverse student body and staff

Skills

• Demonstrated ability to work well with others and build relationships across teams and schools
• Demonstrated strength in systems thinking
• Demonstrated success in impact and influence
• A deep passion for social justice and equity for all children; a strong belief that all students can achieve at the highest levels regardless of demography
• Ability to exercise excellent judgment in decision-making
• Strategic thinker and proactive problem-solver
• Outstanding organizational skills and high attention to detail; outstanding written and oral communication skills, public relations, and interpersonal skills