Early Childhood Literacy Specialist

Primary Purpose:

The Family Literacy Specialist is responsible for overseeing the development, implementation and coordination of literacy-based activities through the Inkster Family Literacy Movement. He/she will work in collaboration with community partners and other departments within Starfish Family Services to develop and deliver a variety of direct-parent, direct child, and parent-and-child together programs, services and activities aimed to promote language and cognitive development and general communication skills of children birth to age 5.

Education and Experience Required:

1. Masters degree in Early Childhood Education or related education field required.
2. Two years of experience as a parent educator and/or early childhood professional development facilitator.
3. Experience developing and implementing family literacy and/or early childhood language and literacy programs and activities.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Required:

1. Knowledge of effective practices for parents and caregivers to support their child's reading ability at home.
2. Knowledge of best practices related to adult learning and parent education techniques.
3. Skill to research and implement innovative strategies for parent engagement.
4. Proven ability to successfully plan, implement, and document all aspects of age appropriate literacy-based program activities for children, parents and families.
5. Must be a self-starter and able to research and recommend appropriate program activities based on identified effective practices implemented by local, regional and national organizations focused on Family Literacy.
6. Ability to collaborate with community partners and other departments within Starfish Family Services (including the Starfish Family Literacy Committee) to successfully implement program activities.
7. Ability to communicate effectively and professionally with parents, colleagues, community partners and other key stakeholders.
8. Ability to represent the agency and program in a professional manner.
9. Strong organizational skills are a must.
10. Must possess computer skills and have working knowledge of Microsoft Office applications.
11. Ability to be flexible to adapt to change.
12. Ability to accept supervision and demonstrate a willingness to continue personal and professional growth.
13. Ability to work with children, parents and all members of the community, regardless of race, gender, age and cultural or ethnic background.
14. Must possess a valid State of Michigan driver's license and valid automobile insurance.
15. Must have a reliable mode of transportation
16. Physical ability to lift a minimum of 15-20 lbs (due to requirement to move and store program supplies, as well as set up rooms for family activities).
17. Ability to demonstrate compassion and sensitivity and to respect the privacy and special needs of our clients.

Other Skills and Abilities Required:

The employee fulfilling this job is accountable to the assigned supervisor for completion of assignments and to the high standards of accuracy, attention to detail, and timely completion of work. Expectations include: a pleasant, empathetic, sensitive and professional demeanor, a positive attitude and a willing spirit. The employee must be willing to engage in professional development efforts as available to the position and required by management.

Principle Duties and Responsibilities:

Early Childhood Education:

• Develop and deliver a calendar of child-centered, parent-centered, and parent and children together (PACT) activities designed to increase knowledge of and influence parenting practices related to early childhood language and literacy development.
• Provide effective coordination of all internal family literacy efforts and community-based family literacy activities.
• Conduct research related to evidenced-based family-literacy programs and apply all or parts of them as appropriate to improve or expand existing programming.

Community Engagement:

• Serve as a representative of Starfish Family Services on the Inkster Family Literacy Coalition and other designated community bodies focused on family literacy.
• Serve as the staff liaison to the Program Activities Subcommittee of the Inkster Family Literacy Coalition charged with ensuring that all tasks and responsibilities are accomplished, documented at the subcommittee level and reported back to the Inkster Family Literacy Coalition in a timely manner.
• Provide recommended age-appropriate literacy-based activities to community organizations interested in hosting programs and events to be jointly promoted through the Inkster Family Literacy Coalition.
• Work closely with the Inkster Family Literacy Movement Marketing Consultant to create marketing and promotional materials and plans to recruit families to literacy programming.
• Represent Starfish Family Services at community-based events, meetings, festivals, recruitment fairs, etc.

Internal Service Integration:

• Establish and coordinate family-literacy and parent resource services, in alignment with the developed action plan, utilizing the Early Learning Resource Center to promote service integration within the agency.
• Assure the coordination and integration of foregoing services with those provided by Starfish Family Services.

General Responsibilities:

• Participate in individual and/or group supervision.
• Participate in professional development activities, including in-service training, peer review, external workshops, and seminars, etc.
• May participate in special projects, e.g. research, community education, etc.
• Cooperate in any investigation related to personnel, licensing, accreditation or other circumstances.
• Participate in staff meetings and other agency functions.
• Assist in finding and directing clients/staff in case of an emergency such as a fire or tornado.
• Perform other duties as assigned by immediate supervisor and other management.

NOTE: The job duties listed are typical examples of the work performed by the position in this job classification. Not all duties are included. It is expected an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.