Instructional Support Leader

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is one of the largest school districts in the United States, serving over 320,000 students in 600+ schools and employing nearly 40,000 people, most of them teachers. CPS has set ambitious goals to ensure that every student, in every school and every neighborhood, has access to a world-class learning experience that prepares each for success in college, career, and civic life. In order to fulfill this mission, we make three commitments to our students, their families, and all Chicagoans: academic progress, financial stability, and integrity. Six core values are embedded within these commitments – student-centered, whole child, equity, academic excellence, community partnership, and continuous learning.

District-run CPS schools are organized into 18 networks, which provide administrative support, strategic direction, and leadership development to the schools within each network. This network support model is designed to support the unique needs of CPS elementary and high schools and their school leaders that focus exclusively on those needs. Network 3 focuses on the elementary schools in the western geographic areas of Chicago.

Job Summary:

Under the direction of the Chief and Deputy Chief of Schools (Network 4), the Instructional Support Leader (ISL) supports instructional development and school-level improvement to drive academic achievement for elementary schools. Specific content expertise and requirements for the ISL will vary based upon the needs of the schools in the network but it is expected that all ISLs will be instructional experts with proven content expertise in at least one core subject (i.e., Literacy, Mathematics, Science) and/or with priority student groups (i.e. Diverse Learners and English Language Learners).

The preferred area of content expertise for this position is either Mathematics, English Language Arts, Science, or Social Science.

The Instructional Support Leader will be held accountable for the following responsibilities:

· Build day-to-day instructional capacity of classroom teachers and school administrators in a portfolio of schools to deliver core district and network priorities which include: Common core state standards, a multi-tiered system of support, and a framework for teaching

· Provide differentiated instructional support by working directly with administrators, teacher leaders and teachers in the classroom, as appropriate, to model effective, research-based instructional practices, by working collaboratively with teacher teams to drive data-informed instructional planning, and by working with school-based leadership teams to actualize CCSS implementation at the classroom level.

· Consult and collaborate with Principals, Assistant Principals, school-based Instructional Leadership Teams, and fellow Network staff as needed to develop data-informed strategies to support development and implementation of CIWP. These strategies include: curriculum development, professional development plans, direct support to classroom teachers, student outcome progress monitoring, and student intervention plans.

· Design and lead professional development around Common Core implementation for network teacher leaders and network administrators.

· Organize and communicate Network initiatives and/or other District initiatives to support the improvement of instruction and academic achievement.

In order to be successful and achieve the above responsibilities, the Instructional Support Leader must possess the following qualifications:

Education Required:

· Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university

· Master’s degree in Education, Curriculum and Instruction, or Educational Leadership highly preferred

Certifications Required:

· Valid standard teaching certificate issued by the Illinois State Board of Education with appropriate grade level and content level endorsements