Director of Foundational Literacy

KIPP Texas Public Schools is a network of 59 public charter, open-enrollment, pre-k-12 schools educating nearly 34,000 students across Austin, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Houston, and San Antonio. Together with families and communities, our mission is to create joyful, academically excellent schools that prepare students with the skills and confidence to pursue the paths they choose —college, career, and beyond—so they can lead fulfilling lives and build a more fair world.

Founded in Houston in 1994 and operating as KIPP Texas since 2018, we are looking to hire a diverse team of dynamic, collaborative, and dedicated individuals with an unyielding belief that every child will succeed. KIPP Texas is a team and family with an unwavering commitment to creating classrooms, offices, and communities rooted in belongingness, academic success and joy.

KIPP Texas is part of the national KIPP network of 255 college-preparatory public charter schools in 20 states and the District of Columbia. Nationwide, KIPP students complete four-year college at a rate of 36 percent, comparable to the national average for all students.

The Opportunity
The Director of Foundational Literacy is an exciting opportunity for an individual with deep content knowledge of literacy at the primary school level (PreK through 2nd Grade) and passion for curriculum and instruction. The Director of Foundational Literacy will play a critical role at the state-level in one of KIPPs most progressive reform efforts in order to drive improved student results, including growth and achievement, college and career readiness, and closing the achievement gap.

General Role Description
• Developing and Implementing Strategy: Create a strategy for PreK-3rd Grade literacy aligned to priorities and metrics and execute plans effectively to ensure strong literacy implementation across the state.
• Teacher and Leader Content Knowledge Development: Create the structures and supports to launch Comprehensive Reading Academies cohorts by partnering with regional, school leaders and Education Service Centers.
• Data Analysis: Regularly analyze a variety of qualitative and quantitative data at the school-, region- and state-levels to identify strengths and gaps in the curriculum itself and/or its implementation.
• Professional Development: Plan and facilitate virtual and in-person professional development on curriculum and instruction to ensure all regions are on a path to implement the Foundational Literacy strategy with fidelity and achieve academic goals.
• Instructional Coaching and Management: Manage Early Literacy Leads across all four KIPP Texas regions to Coach and support school administrators, teachers, and regional academic teams to set, make progress towards, and achieve academic goals. This may include occasional travel to each KIPP Texas region (Houston, Austin, Dallas, and San Antonio).

Key Responsibilities
The Director of Foundational Literacy responsibilities include but are not limited to the following:
• Lead implementation of state literacy priorities, including but not limited to PreK, Foundational Literacy, Writing instruction across the state for grades PreK-2.
• Create strategy for literacy implementation, support, and coaching across matrices and teams to reach ambitious goals in literacy across the state.
• Manage the development, implementation, and evaluation of a comprehensive professional learning for K-2 literacy with Reading Academies comprehensive cohorts.
• Develop a comprehensive process for ensuring KIPP Texas is in compliance with HB3 requirements related to foundational literacy and High Quality PreK.
• Consistently analyze data from assessments to evaluate the effectiveness of the curriculum and lead the team in making the appropriate adjustments
• Recruit, select and retain outstanding Early Literacy Leads for each KIPP Texas region.
• Support in managing the early childhood budget for PreK-2, ensuring alignment to state-wide priorities and maintains the principles of fiscal responsibility
• Coach, build relationships, and support to APs, SLs, teachers, and regional academics team members across the state to ensure strong implementation of literacy programs.
• Develop, manage, and lead literacy pilots across the state to innovate and try new programs, structures, and strategies; gather data and artifacts to make state-wide
programmatic recommendations for further years.
• Serve as a model of instructional coaching power moves of internalization, observation and feedback, and data- driven instruction. Coach APs, SLs, and regional academics team members across the state in the power moves when coaching in schools.
• Conduct Texas state-wide and region-specific data analysis to guide regions around intentional data driven response in instruction.
• Plan and lead virtual and in-person literacy professional development for literacy coaches and teachers including lesson internalization, module internalization, and responding to data.
• Coach, build relationships, and support principals, assistant principals, teachers, and regional academics teams across the state to ensure strong implementation of and solicit feedback of the curriculum.
• Collaborate with other KIPP Texas academics teams (student support services, multilingual department, assessment & achievement) to ensure curriculum and supporting materials are accessible for ALL students, including special education and multilingual students.

Education
• Bachelor’s degree required
• Completion of Texas Reading Academies required'

Skills and Qualifications
Content and Pedagogical Expertise
• Strong knowledge and believe in the college-ready bar for students in literacy; exceptionally high standards for rigor and the belief that all students can achieve at high levels
• Strong coach of leaders with the ability to model strong coaching and school leadership. Strong understanding of the college-ready bar for students in literacy, exceptionally high standards for students' potential, and an unyielding belief that ALL students can achieve at high levels
• Strong understanding of and prior experience with instructional practices aligned to the Science of Teaching Reading
• Experience coaching teachers and leaders to improve instruction through observation & feedback with measurable results; can identify targeted impact statements (action steps) based on observations to improve instruction efficiently and effectively

Technical Skills
• Detail oriented and obsessed with accuracy, especially in the areas of curriculum and assessments
• Ability to create own work plan and can project plan around multiple priorities and fast-paced deadlines
• Able to succinctly present summaries and updates
• Can work across multiple modes of communication (virtual and in-person) to impact others and achieve goals
• Advanced understanding of Microsoft Office suite and (preferred) Adobe Reader and Google Drive
• (Preferred but not required) Able to fluently navigate Illuminate and Tableau, or other similar assessment and data analytics platforms

Communication, Interpersonal and Team Skills

• Builds and maintains strong relationships across a variety of levels and stakeholders
• Strong verbal and written communication skills; tailors message for the audience, context, and mode of communication
• Builds consensus and resolves conflicts; exhibits willingness to have difficult conversations
• Skillfully navigates systems and structures at various levels in a large district
• Comfortable with ambiguity and can translate abstract ideas into concrete work plans and products

Problem Solving and Systems-Level Thinking
• Understands how various systems, departments, shareholders and stakeholders interact to achieve short and long term goals
• Makes decisions using data and takes initiative to solve problems and create stakeholder buy-in
• Exhibits flexibility and a solutions-oriented mindset when faced with shifting priorities, demands, and timelines
• Identifies and prioritizes mission-critical issues and offers innovative solutions to seemingly intractable problems
• Exhibits consistent focus on goals and results and sets clear metrics for success

Leadership Skills
• Motivates, inspires, and moves other adults to action to achieve ambitious goals
• Builds coalitions and works collaboratively with diverse stakeholders at all levels, including but not limited to state leaders, regional leaders, school leaders, coaches, teachers and students
• Establishes clear expectations, deliverables and deadlines across organizational layers

Empathy and Commitment to Cause
• Deep belief in the mission and values of KIPP and commitments to improving student achievement
• Passionately believes that all students can achieve at high levels
• Demonstrates cultural competencies and a deep understanding of and empathy for issues facing students

Compensation and Benefits

Salary is based on years of experience, degree of education, and level of expertise.

As a full-time KIPP Texas employee you are eligible to participate in all KIPP Texas’ benefit plans. KIPP Texas offers a robust variety of benefits choices with competitive rates, including medical, dental, and vision options, life insurance,  fertility, and disability plans starting as low as $25/month.

KIPP provides equal employment opportunities for all applicants and employees. As an equal opportunity employer, we hire without consideration of race, religion, creed, color, national origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status, or disability.