Director, Literacy

Summary

Join KIPP Public Schools as a Director of Literacy and partner with KIPP regions to implement and sustain effective literacy initiatives. You will drive improvements in student outcomes, manage curriculum and assessment strategies, and develop instructional coaching tools. Responsibilities include supporting regional and school-based academic leaders, facilitating professional development, and conducting site visits. The ideal candidate possesses strong literacy instructional expertise, experience leading high school leaders, and a commitment to KIPP's mission and values. A minimum of 5-7 years of experience in high school English is required, along with a Bachelor's degree. The role offers a competitive salary, comprehensive benefits, and the option of remote work.

Requirements

• Demonstrates passion and commitment to KIPP’s mission and possesses the desire and ability to uphold KIPP’s core values (Focus on Excellent Results, Collective Impact, and Courageous Action)
• Demonstrates working knowledge that achieving equitable educational outcomes for students and dismantling systems that harm communities begins with self-reflection; continuously exploring our compounded identities, building awareness around interpersonal and institutional dynamics, and, in partnership, cascading changes to enable thriving communities
• Engages in the work of personal development at working, knowing that personal development is ongoing and vital to their personal and professional success; hold themselves accountable to evolving, growing, learning and unlearning in ways that improve results for students, adults, and the larger community
• Sets a clear vision for new or complex bodies of work. Develops and implements agile project plans, navigating difficult situations or conflicts while maintaining effective relationships with all stakeholders; creates and ensures systems are in place for knowledge management
• Demonstrated record of setting ambitious goals and achieving them with consistency. Invests in developing teammates’ skills and mindsets to address gaps in achieving team growth; determines what quantitative and qualitative data are most relevant to their goals and supports the team in creating and monitoring systems for collecting, reviewing, and acting upon data to drive outcomes; able to monitor progress, communicating status to the right stakeholders and adjusting plans and use of time to ensure systems are yielding desired outcomes
• Highly skilled and experienced in leading the Internalization and Planning process, conducting Observation/Feedback meeting, providing real-time feedback, leading Weekly Data Meetings, setting academic goals and monitoring progress
• Strong Literacy instructional and coaching expertise including deep content knowledge of rigorous English coursework at the high school level, knowledge of culturally relevant teaching practices, and familiarity with current research on supporting older students with unfinished foundational skills instruction; Demonstrated track record of results in advancing student outcomes. Knowledge and skilled in effective professional learning and instructional coaching techniques in the high school setting
• Well versed in adult learning frameworks and tactics; able to design, develop, and implement professional development for diverse adult learners
• Strong emphasis will be placed on this individual’s content knowledge of high school literacy alongside a demonstrated track record of impacting student academic results and in leading and managing major, complex efforts requiring strong process and project management as well as significant stakeholder engagement and management
• Possesses content expertise in English, ideally K-12, with specific expertise in AP English Language and/or AP English Literature; has deep understanding of research-backed instructional and pedagogical practices for K-12 reading and writing
• A proactive cultural leader and team player who thrives on collaboration and learning
• Minimum of 5-7 years of experience in high school English, experience leading/coaching high school leaders preferred
• Bachelor’s degree required

Responsibilities

• With the Vice President of Literacy, support the implementation of our long-term One KIPP K-12 literacy model with the ambitious goal of 75% of KIPPsters on track for college and ultimately career success
• Maintain and manage the implementation and roll-out of a comprehensive AP-aligned high school curriculum program (Novel ELA) across the KIPP Network
• Support the effective execution of our One KIPP high school assessment strategy in literacy, including the administration of curriculum embedded assessments, reading proficiency screeners and diagnostics in applicable grades, and college readiness exams, e.g. iReady, AP, ACT, SAT, etc with the goal of 90%+ completion of all required curriculum embedded assessments in grade 9 and 95%+ completion results of the iReady reading screener assessment in grade 9 and all new-to-KIPP students across grades 10 – 12
• Drive improvements in student outcomes on curriculum embedded assessments, benchmark assessments, and state assessments with year over year proficiency gains that lead regions closer to the network wide goal of 75% of KIPPsters on track for college and career success
• Research and develop instructional coaching tools and resources that support the One KIPP high school curriculum and assessment strategy
• Participate in and support cross-team advisory, planning, or similar work in support of KIPP Foundation or Network priorities
• Support the development of regional and school-based academic leaders across KIPP in acquiring the content knowledge necessary to lead the implementation of high-quality literacy curricula at the high school level
• Co-design and co-facilitate monthly professional development sessions and community calls for regional and high school academic leaders across the KIPP network with the ambitious goal of 90% representation and attendance from regional academic leaders in all regions implementing Novel ELA in grade 9 and the equally ambitious goals of 90%+ agree/strongly agree on all PD satisfaction metrics & 90%+ mastery on all PD objectives
• Assist regional leaders with the strategic planning process that follows professional development
• Assist regional leaders to develop effective professional learning cycles from planning and execution of professional learning experiences, monitoring of participant learning and reactions, school support and implementation of new learning, to impacts on student outcomes
• Coach regional academic leaders across KIPP in building the technical and adaptive coaching skills necessary to drive strong curriculum implementation and teacher development over time
• Conduct monthly site visits across KIPP to support regional implementation and alignment with the high school literacy & humanities strategy through classroom observations, rubric evaluations, direct-to-source professional development planning and facilitation, and 6–8-week action planning sessions that focus on both teacher input and student outcome measures
• Partner directly with a subset of regions to build and/or refine their high school literacy systems (e.g., talent, curriculum and assessment, coaching) so that they create excellent and equitable experiences for all students
• Lead regular advisory/coaching calls/office hours to support regional partners in developing and executing a program that meets their regional vision and goals in alignment with the KIPP K-12 literacy model, e.g., coaching systems and structures, curriculum and assessment implementation supports, approach to teacher and leader development, etc

Preferred Qualifications

• It is preferred, but not mandatory for this role to be based out of a KIPP Foundation office
• This role also offers the option of working from a remote office full-time

Benefits

• 25 holidays for + 18 days additional flexible PTO days (flexible PTO increases to 23 days for years 3 and 4 and to 28 days for years 5+)
• 100% paid parental leave
• 100% coverage of the premium for employee and 75% for employee + family’s medical/dental/vision plans
• Wellness benefits such as fitness reimbursements, discounted tickets to theme parks/attractions, backup care support for children and adults/elders, and our employee assistance program
• Finance Security benefits include such as a 401K retirement plan with 4% match, employer-sponsored legal plans, life/disability insurance, and flexible spending accounts
• The salary range for this position is $120,000-$145,000