2024-2025 Elementary Literacy Curriculum & Instruction Coach (Jamaica)
Mission Statement: The Growing Up Green Charter School (GUGCS) supports children to be conscious, contributing members of their community through a rigorous, anti-racist, anti-bias, curriculum and engaging green culture. Graduates of GUGCS will be prepared to attend high-performing schools where their interdisciplinary academic foundation, knowledge of sustainability, and a strong sense of self set them apart as leaders and social justice advocates of the future.
School Culture: GUGCS teaches students our school culture through our core values: Social Justice, Collaboration, Courage, and Kindness. Students are taught the core values through assemblies, class meetings, and various lessons.
General Responsibilities:
- Learning Environment
- Guide and support the Growing Up Green school community in fulfilling its mission and charter goals.
- Establish and maintain ongoing positive relationships and constructive interactions with students, families, colleagues, and administration in and across elementary school campuses.
- Regularly collaborate with all other CIT Members and School Leaders through meetings, conference calls, co-observations, and school visits.
- Support teachers in creating a rich learning environment with access to diverse literature, content-specific manipulatives, and anchor charts.
- Demonstrate commitment to working with diverse populations of families and students and model behavior which depicts respect and a feeling for the dignity and worth for all students, staff, and families.
- Curriculum and Instruction
- Create, refine, adapt, curate, and pace commercial and “Growing Up Green-developed” Common-Core aligned curricular products that form the basis of the experiential, inquiry-based literacy program with an emphasis on culturally responsive and anti-racist pedagogy and meaningful connections to sustainability and Green Principles in grades K-4.
- Develop materials and support or lead professional development for various members of the teaching staff, focusing on literacy content and the highest fidelity implementation of the literacy curricula.
- Regularly coach teachers around the conceptual understanding of literacy concepts and facilitation of inquiry-based literacy instruction.
- Demonstrate an understanding of effective literacy teaching and encourage teachers in applying these practices before, during, and after lessons.
- Work closely with the School Leaders and the Support Services team to provide guidance to teachers on differentiating content and monitoring student progress.
- Facilitate the integration of literacy concepts/skills/strategies / technology into classrooms.
- Keep abreast of current research in literacy and maintain a collection of professional learning materials.
- Coordinate the management of literacy materials to support the curriculum.
- Plan and manage experiential learning opportunities through trips, residencies, and other mediums.
- Assessment
- Monitor students’ academic performance relative to the absolute, comparative, and value-added goals as noted in the GUGCS charter.
- Design and monitor literacy assessments to evaluate student performance and progress.
- Demonstrate and communicate knowledge of how to administer literacy assessments and how to interpret the results of each assessment.
- Use assessment data to discuss student progress, modify unit plans, inform groupings, target specific instructional practices, and support student learning in literacy.
- Facilitate and support faculty in the evaluation of student learning based on assessment data.
- Staff Development
- Model lessons for faculty in the implementation of the physical, organizational, and instructional components that constitute a quality literacy program.
- Utilize academic data to adjust and focus on curricula, instruction, assessment, and professional development.
- Guide and support faculty by observing, coaching, encouraging, and providing constructive and actionable feedback as they organize for and implement instruction around literacy.
- Organize and facilitate collaborative opportunities for faculty to reflect on and analyze literacy instruction.
- Conduct meaningful and well-planned staff development such as, and including, workshops and/or book studies for professional development in elements of literacy instruction, effective instructional practices, and the integration of literacy and other content areas.
- Reinforce literacy concepts and skills in the content areas by addressing various learning styles and including integrated learning, interdisciplinary connections, and higher-order thinking skills appropriate for a wide range of abilities.
- Parent and Community Engagement
- Develop and lead parent workshops around literacy and effective instructional strategies used at Growing Up Green.
- Provide teachers with Family Letters to accompany each Unit.
- Related Professional Responsibilities
- Build positive and efficient working relations with the Growing Up Green CIT Members, leadership teams, and teachers.
- Actively help establish and participate in the school community through weekly staff meetings, PD opportunities, staff committees, select school events, etc.
- Attend workshops and conferences to support the growth of GUGCS and remain current about issues related to literacy curriculum, instruction, and assessment.
- Fulfill duties, responsibilities, and commitments as outlined in the GUGCS faculty handbook.
- Recommend annual refinements to the literacy program based on network trends, feedback from school-based leadership, and research of best practices.
- In collaboration with other members of the CIT and school-based leadership, participate in literacy content walkthroughs and implementation visits to monitor the implementation of the literacy program.
- Collect and analyze videos of exemplary teaching practices around the strong implementation of literacy instruction and curate an initial body of annotated student work.
- In collaboration with other members of the CIT, proactively communicate important curriculum and assessment information to relevant stakeholders.
- Give and receive feedback with radical candor.
Qualifications and Experience:
- Strong commitment to Growing Up Green Charter School's mission and sustainability
- Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively with administrators and teachers
- Proven track record for achieving literacy results using an inquiry-based approach
- Experience in early phonic instruction
- Demonstrated ability and/or desire to coach teachers (e.g., mentor teacher, lead teacher, etc.)
- Knowledge of Responsive Classroom and/or Developmental Designs
- Strong knowledge of Culturally Responsive Practices
- Experience in environmental education a plus
- Experience in implementing the Science of Reading a plus
- Ability in integrating technology into teaching
- Excellent organizational skills
- Starting salary is $90,000 (commensurate with experience)
Education
- Bachelor’s Degree required. Master's Degree in specific content preferred
- 5+ years of classroom teaching experience, grades K-5
Required Certificates & Licenses:
- Teaching certificate, NYC DOE/Fingerprinting & Background Clearance