Education Specialist

Education Specialist

As a member of the Education Services department, the Education Services Specialist (ESS) is the educational leader at Child-Parent Center (CPC), guiding teachers, Site Supervisors, staff, parents, volunteers, and community partners. Consistent with the mission of CPC, the ESS ensures high quality Early Childhood Education, school readiness, and the vision of strong communities in Southern Arizona. The ESS develops teachers' and family educators' capacity, awareness and implementation of Child Parent Centers' philosophy, values, and beliefs. Educational coaches use researched based coaching and mentoring strategies to support the implementation of the agency's Languages of Learning curriculum (based in Reggio Emilia principles and philosophies), state regulatory requirements, and the Office of Head Start performance standards. Coaches provide guidance, feedback, structure and collaboration with staff to increase children's and families' successes. Educational coaches use observations, data analysis, evaluation, modeling, co-planning, and collaboration to inform coaching and support professional growth of teaching staff. The Education Specialist is accountable for assuring annual developmental gains for all children. They demonstrate a passion for early childhood education in the classroom, center, throughout CPC, and in the greater community.

Benefits:

• Paid Leave - 26 paid holidays, 5 days paid vacation after one year and up to 13 days each year thereafter, and 8 days paid Personal leave first year, 11 days each year thereafter, up to 5 days paid sick leave annually.
• Insurance benefits - dental, Flexible Spending Accounts, Health Reimbursement Arrangements, Health Savings Accounts, PPO medical (3 plans), Vision, and Supplemental Life coverage for self, spouse, and child ($25,000 basic life and Accidental death and disability provided by employer)
• Retirement Plan - Agency contribution after years of services and hours of eligibility criteria are met. Employee 401k deferral once eligibility is met.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Possess a bachelor's degree from a recognized educational institute in the field of early childhood education or a bachelor's degree in a related field (as determined by the agency) and a minimum of 18 credits of early childhood education coursework.
• Three (3) years working experience in a preschool classroom or early childhood education setting
• One (1) year of experience coaching, mentoring, or supervising preschool classroom staff.
• Demonstrated proficiency in Microsoft Office 365 (Word, Excel, Power Point, Outlook, Teams, OneDrive)
• Read, write, and speak English

Competencies:

• Accountability
• Coaching/Mentoring
• Creative and Innovative Thinking
• Building Relationships
• Teamwork
• Oral and Written Communication
• Analysis/Reasoning
• Problem Solving
• Decision-Making/Judgment
• Self-Management
• Adaptability and Flexibility
• Technology

Duties and Responsibilities

Job Specific Responsibilities and Duties:

• Understand and implement agency adopted research-based approaches to professional development. Areas of focus include effective curricula implementation, knowledge of the content in Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework: Ages Birth to Five, partnering with families, supporting children with disabilities and their families, providing effective and nurturing adult-child interactions, supporting dual language learners as appropriate, addressing challenging behaviors, preparing children and families for transitions and using data to individualize learning experiences to improve outcomes for all children.
• Use agency tools and resources to provide opportunities for regular and ongoing coaching including feedback and modeling of effective teacher practices based on areas of support identified in assessments and/or as requested.
• Support attainment of SmartTeach and CLASS, Inter-rater Reliability certification.
• Oversee, research, and create resources to ensure the implementation of the Languages of Learning Framework in the classroom.
• Review and approve classroom inventory, teaching supplies, materials and equipment adhering to procurement policies and procedures. As well as participating in updating supply lists as needed.
• Oversee implementation of classroom practices including room arrangement, lesson plans, daily schedules, routines, and transitions to ensure their adherence to program policies.
• Provide guidance and support for safety and emergency planning systems including the child supervision system and child counts to teaching teams, family educators (FE's) and site supervisors (SS), site directors (SD) as necessary.
• Initiate and/or participate in IEP/IFSP conferences or meetings regarding individual children with special rights and/or other needs. Provide guidance in the implementation of the IEP/IFSP goals into the classroom and home base lesson plan.
• Complete screenings and make referrals to meet the needs of all children, including those with special rights.
• Substitute in the classroom or home-based option when necessary.
• Facilitate staff's understanding of decisions and advice from funders, the governing body, policy group, committees, and management by professionally presenting decisions, explaining the rationale and openly addressing questions and concerns.

Supervision:

• Identify self-growth, development goals, and strategies for achievement with support and input from supervisor.
• Assess assigned education staff to identify strengths, areas of needed support, and which staff would benefit most from intensive coaching.
• Commit, document, and participate in consistent and planned meetings with teaching staff, family educators and supervisors to further professional growth by utilizing the Cognitive Coaching model.

Recordkeeping, Monitoring, and Reporting:

• Conduct and ensure accurate and timely completion of a variety of monitoring, record keeping, and reporting activities for assigned education staff (my teaching strategies, quarterly data analysis system, curriculum plans, CLASS, HOVRS, screenings, Mental Health/Special Rights referrals, on-going assessments, cluster/agency profile, school readiness, etc.). Assess progress, identify action plans, and report findings to the Education Coordinator.
• Partner with assigned teaching teams to identify strengths, areas of needed support, and plan effective coaching strategies to support growth.
• Follow and observe the child supervision system and coach staff in ensuring compliance while reporting non-compliance to Site Supervisor, Critical Issues database, and those with a need to know.
• Monitor the child supervision system and child count system per procedure and report non-compliance to CI database and those with a need to know.

Leadership, Management, and Teamwork:

• Participate on the Education Services department team and contribute to the decision-making process for strategic initiatives, professional development, budget, governance, and agency self-assessment. Implement and monitor key management decisions in the areas of school readiness and education services systems.
• Participate on the Comprehensive Services Unit team and contribute to the CS Unit Cross-Department Collaboration team in support of integrated policies, procedures and services.
• Encourage families' involvement and advocacy by ensuring that families are informed about decision-making opportunities related to their child's education and developmental growth.
• Develop and facilitate high quality Reggio inspired pre-service and in-service learning for new and continuing education staff. Research, review, and recommend resources to support professional development, including viable partners or consultants.
• Exhibit a commitment to lifelong learning. Maintain early childhood education expertise including best practices, local, state, and federal initiatives through active membership in Early Childhood Professional organizations and establishment of good working relationships with internal and external stakeholders. Link current research, resources, and program data to practice by discussing program quality issues and ways to advance practice.
• Support minimum standards for materials and resources for classroom and outdoor environments that are safe, well equipped, aesthetically pleasing, and reflective of the culture and practices of the children and families served. Advocate for resources to improve program quality by offering suggestions and providing information about needed resources during the program planning and feedback for budget development process related to education services.
• Participate with and support education staff in preparation for community, state, and national education tours or presentations.
• Participate in Policy Council and Advisory Group activities as assigned.
• Observe education staff in the Child Development Associate Renewal process.
• Communicate and collaborate with the transdisciplinary team regularly to plan and ensure comprehensive integrated service delivery of Head Start performance standards.
• Communicate through timely debriefings on the impact of coaching observations on high quality services to children and families.
• Collaborate and offer recommendations regarding community needs, demographic shifts, and program implementation observations for the purpose of providing high quality services.
• Participate in annual department self-assessment and strategic plan.
• Participate in training in new technologies. Use and coach new technologies to improve efficiency and effectiveness of high-quality