Learning Specialist Coordinator

Overview: About Public Prep

The Public Prep Network is a nonprofit organization that develops single-sex elementary and middle public schools that pursue excellence through continuous learning and data-driven instruction. Our model is designed to empower each student to build strong character, demonstrate critical thinking, possess a core body of knowledge and be on a predictive path to earn a degree from a four-year university.

Public Prep is currently comprised of three tuition-free, all-girls charter schools centered on the core values of Scholarship, Merit, Community, and Responsibility.

Girls Prep Lower East Side Elementary, the first all-girls charter school in New York City and the inaugural school in our network, was launched in 2005 and serves 325 students in grades K-4. Girls Prep Lower East Side Middle School and Girls Prep Bronx Elementary School launched in 2009 and are both completing their fourth years of operation. Girls Prep Lower East Side Middle School serves 225 students in grades 5-8th. Girls Prep Bronx serves 375 students in grades K-4 and will serve 450 students in grades K-5 beginning in the fall of 2013.

Both Girls Prep Bronx Middle School and Boys Prep Elementary School will launch in the fall of 2014.

Joining our team at Public Prep

Public Prep is seeking an outstanding special education certified Learning Specialist Coordinator to join our team at one of our schools for the 2013-2014 school year.

The Learning Specialist Coordinators' two main roles are to:

1) Ensure that support services for all students are equitably and effectively provided and ensure compliance with city, state, and federal mandates

2) Provide direct and indirect services to a caseload of students-assigned by the Principal.

Learning Specialist Coordinators will coordinate and guide their school's implementation of Response to Intervention and Child Study Teams by creating plans that support a range of student needs and building capacity within the school to improve outcomes for all students. Learning Specialist Coordinators will connect all students with a range of social, emotional, behavioral, and academic supports.

When providing direct service, Learning Specialist Coordinators prioritize inclusion through a variety of co-teaching models, including teaming, parallel teaching and alternative teaching, serving students who require a range of services on the continuum from intervention to IEP-mandates in different subjects.

Learning Specialist Coordinators also use their expertise in special education to collaborate with all teachers and support staff in the school community at the direction of the Principal. Learning Specialist Coordinators will have a smaller caseload than Learning Specialists in order to have sufficient time meet all responsibilities of the position.

Responsibilities Include:

• Overseeing the implementation of processes and structures for ensuring compliance and effective participation in decision making forums (Child Study Teams, IEP Reviews, 504 Team Meetings) from all special service providers and teachers.
• Facilitating evidence-based decision making by guiding teams in the consistent use of data within all meetings for students who are identified for special services within the continuum of Response to Intervention as well as all students with IEP-mandated services.
• Ensuring appropriate accommodations are given to students during assessments and meeting with all other related service providers.
• Actively engaging in individual and network-wide learning of best practices that facilitate effective team functioning and case management while seeking feedback and coaching that supports their own improvement as practitioners.
• Designing and implementing systems that ensure strategic and equitable management of resources, i.e. scheduling of student services, communicating with families, maintaining school records of IEP files, 504 plans, and student interventions.
• Collaborating with teachers to individualize instruction and to discuss students' access to curriculum and learning goals.
• Ensuring that modifications, scaffolds and interventions align with pre-designed, content standards and Common Core State Standards and address students' individual needs and learning styles.
• Providing continuous feedback and evaluation for themselves and students based on the development of individualized goals for performance that are specific, measurable, action-oriented, realistic and time-bound including but not limited to students' formal IEP goals.

The ideal candidate will have:

• A Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university
• An M.A., Ed.M or Master's degree in relevant content area
• New York State Dual Certification in Special Education and General Education
• A minimum of four years of demonstrated success as a full-time special education teacher
• A demonstrated aptitude for effective case management and a proven ability to manage complex systems of data
• Demonstrated success working in a high-performing, urban school setting preferred
• Evidence of excellence in teaching through continuous learning and data analysis
• Exceptional organization and planning skills
• Superior communication skills
• An ability to work collaboratively
• A commitment to single-sex education
• Fluency in Spanish is a plus