Director of Staff Development, Springboard Collaborative

Posted by Springboard Collaborative on December 14, 2015

The Problem
Children spend 75% of their waking hours outside the classroom, yet our school system does shockingly little to capture educational value from this time for children in low-income communities. These students lack continuous access to learning at home and school, slowing down progress during the academic year and leading to chronic regressions over the summer.

The Solution
Springboard Collaborative partners with schools to augment children’s reading time beyond traditional classroom hours. Springboard helps teachers plan targeted reading instruction for prekindergarten through third grade scholars during summer or after school sessions. Teachers also conduct home visits and facilitate family workshops to equip family members to become reading coaches for their children at home. Teachers and parents collaborate as a team to help each scholar reach an individualized learning goal. Springboard strengthens this collaborative work by providing personalized coaching for teachers and by incentivizing family participation and student goal achievement. Through this work, Springboard aims to close the reading achievement gap so that Springboard scholars have the requisite skills to access life opportunities.

About the Opportunity:
Springboard Collaborative invites passionate educators to apply for the position of Director of Staff Development. A crucial member of the Springboard team, the director will impact thousands of scholars nationwide by overseeing training for all seasonal teachers and leaders, providing on-going development for full-time team members, and designing new program content. The director will collaborate with school leaders around the country, tailoring Springboard’s teacher coaching to each school. This position offers an unparalleled opportunity to learn about current best practices and their implementation in schools across all Springboard’s regions.

The ideal candidate will have demonstrated expertise in teaching children to read and coaching teachers to teach. S/he will bring an eagerness to work in an entrepreneurial environment and a strong sense of determination, flexibility, and optimism.

Experienced teacher leaders and literacy coaches will find this to be a tremendous opportunity to increase the capacity of teachers and emerging leaders nationwide.

Responsibilities:
Develop and conduct staff training sessions
• Create and lead dynamic, interactive, and highly effective Teacher Professional Development Sessions
• Generate appropriate agendas, powerpoints, scripts, and videos to support remote
training sessions and web-based teacher tutorials
• Develop and co-lead leadership trainings to equip and inspire Cluster Managers, Site
Managers, and Ops Leads in each region

Ensure high quality staff experience
• Take the lead on community-building efforts and on-going staff support during and
between sessions
• Utilize feedback through surveys and focus groups to ascertain satisfaction of
Springboard staff and to identify growth areas for the organization
• Oversee debrief process, ensuring consistency across regions, and synthesizing feedback
• Review teacher practice (assessment, lesson planning, and student action planning) to
adjust subsequent trainings

Study and share current best practices in literacy instruction
• Represent Springboard as a literacy expert when hosting guests, visiting new partners,
or collaborating with external peer organizations
• Provide cohesive pedagogical perspective for new Springboard initiatives
• Support on-going Cluster Manager development and expertise regarding literacy
instruction and teacher coaching
• Lead Springboard’s efforts to ensure professional development credentialing in all
Springboard regions and states

Qualifications:
• Minimum five years’ experience working as an elementary school teacher or literacy coach
• M.Ed. or Reading Specialist Certification
• Willingness to travel frequently

Requisite knowledge, skills, and abilities:
• Deep content knowledge of PreK-3rd grade literacy development with an ability to design and implement targeted reading interventions based on data and observations
• Familiarity with adult learning principles and experience facilitating teacher professional development or coaching teachers
• Strong technical skills and facile use of basic computer applications (MS Office products, Salesforce)
• Confidence planning large-scale events and speaking publicly in large group settings
• Excellent self-presentation and robust interpersonal skills: communication, problem solving, conflict management, collaboration, organization, project management
• Firm belief in the power of collaboration among teachers and parents to help children learn
• Active pursuit of new knowledge relevant to best practices in literacy instruction and adult learning

Location:
Springboard Collaborative’s national office is in Philadelphia. The Director of Staff Development should also plan to work in Oakland, CA, Washington, D.C., Camden, NJ, and additional cities as Springboard grows.

Compensation:
Springboard Collaborative will offer competitive salary and benefits commensurate with experience.

Springboard Collaborative is an equal opportunity employer. Individuals from diverse backgrounds are encouraged to apply.

To Apply
Send a resume and brief cover letter describing your interest: info@springboardcollaborative.org.