Director of Curriculum and Instruction - New York, United States - Brooklyn Kindergarten Society

Description

Job Description

Brooklyn Kindergarten Society is seeking a mission driven professional with a strong work ethic, who is able to lead and take initiative, multi-task, and establish strong collaborative relationships with colleagues and peers. As the Director of Curriculum and Instruction, you will support and guide teachers and staff in our seven centers. The Director of Curriculum and Instruction will work to ensure proper implementation of the Creative Curriculum, use of developmentally appropriate practice, STEAM learning, and achievement towards the NYS PreK Standards, Head Start School Readiness Goals, and TSG Objectives for Development and Learning. The Director of Curriculum and Instruction is responsible for a wide variety of tasks while co-leading our educational vision. They include, but not limited to, curriculum planning and development, analyzing assessment data, providing professional learning opportunities to teaching staff, observing classrooms and providing feedback, and providing resources to teaching teams to refine and strengthen teacher practice. We are seeking an individual who can inspire, lead, listen to, and grow along with our children, teachers, and staff.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES AND ACCOUNTABILITIES

Coaching, Curriculum Implementation, and Assessment - 85%

• Understand the goals, objectives, and vision of BKS
• Ensure full implementation of all aspects of Creative Curriculum (foundation, studies, and resources) with the goal of supporting all children to achieve school readiness goals.
• Facilitate best practice workshops and trainings based on the existing curriculum and designing and piloting new professional development based on program needs.
• Collaborate with center-based Program Directors to ensure curriculum is implemented with fidelity and instructional practices are flourishing in all BKS learning spaces.
• Provide ongoing coaching to teaching staff to support them in successfully fulfilling all aspects of their role, including but not limited to effective practices in the following:

1) CLASSTM Teacher-Child Interactions

2) Learning Environments

3) Curriculum and Lesson Planning

4) Developmental Screenings

4) Child Level Assessment

5) Meeting All Children's Needs

6) Culturally Responsive Instruction and Practices

6) Working with Families

7) Professional Growth and Collaboration

• Conduct informal observations of teachers and provide constructive and actionable feedback on a consistent basis
• Work with teachers to implement the child assessment system reliably, including understanding child outcomes data and using them to plan and individualize.
• Support teachers in strategic lesson planning aligned to New York State PreKindergarten Learning Standards, Early Learning Outcomes Framework, Head Start School Readiness Goals, and TSG Objectives for Development and Learning.
• In collaboration with the Deputy Director of Education, lead data review meetings with teaching teams to review child level assessment data and determine small group and individual child intervention or enrichment activities and strategies
• Support teacher development by providing tailored training opportunities and learning paths based on observation data.
• Assists with overseeing student assessments; identifying strengths/areas of weakness/further intervention needed.
• Collaborate with the Deputy Director of Education in creating curricula and standards that support educational excellence and preparing the school calendar.
• Support Program Directors in conducting classroom observations to provide feedback, strategies, and coaching to individual teachers and teams. Conduct formal assessments as necessary.
• Identify and work to overcome stumbling blocks to high quality instruction in pre-K classrooms across BKS's programs
• Collaborate with the rest of the Educational team to enhance the teaching team's knowledge of best practices in terms of instruction, behavior modification, and age appropriate responses to challenging behavior
• Develop and refine professional development offerings (workshops, series, academies and institutes) in alignment with the New York Prekindergarten Foundations for Common Core Standards, New York Early Learning Framework, Brooklyn Kindergarten Society's school readiness goals and related assessments
• Conduct ongoing research and learning on best practices to support teacher development and professional learning communities
• Co-lead our programmatic vision to ensure strong instructional practices are flourishing at all BKS learning spaces.
• Collaborate, engage with, and facilitate the work of the Department of Early Childhood Education (DECE) staff and coaches.
• In conjunction with Directors and the Education Team, lead and work collaboratively with teacher teams using a variety of methods that includes observations, formal and informal data, the use of Teaching Strategies Gold (TSG), CLASS assessments, and ECERS assessments, as well as participating in our Child Study Teams.
• Collaborate with Directors and the Educational Managers on study plan support with teachers on path to certification
• Collaborate with multiple program providers and help shape and create exciting new programming.
• Provide center coverage support in any capacity as needed when the Educational Manager(s), Program Director, or certified teacher is not available
• Co-create a new teacher onboarding process to be implemented and carried out by the Education Team
• Ensure that all Article 47 requirements are being maintained with support from directors and the Central Team
• Maintain confidentiality in dealing with all company information, private student/family matters, and HR-related issues.
• Travel daily to our 7 locations and on occasion our main office headquarters

Other - 15%

• Attend staff meetings and trainings as required.
• Perform special projects and other duties as assigned.
• All other work as directed by the Deputy Director of Education

What Qualifies You:

• A deep understanding of and commitment to the value of play- and language-based early childhood pedagogy
• Successful teaching experience with a minimum of 2 years as a lead teacher for a classroom with children under 6
• Successful demonstration of leadership ability with a minimum of 2 years supervising and coaching teachers.
• Ability to work with diverse groups and foster team spirit
• An abiding respect for the capacity of each child to learn and grow
• Valid Professional-level New York State Teacher Certificate (B-2, N-6, Pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten and Grades 1-6 or equivalent education certification)
• Master's degree in early childhood education or related field
• Experience and commitment to working with low-income populations and diverse cultures.