EL Network Specialist

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Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is a district on the rise, serving over 325,000 students in 500+ schools and employing over 45,000 people, most of them teachers. CPS has set ambitious goals to ensure that every student, in every school and every neighborhood, has access to a world-class learning experience that prepares each for success in college, career, and civic life. Aligned with our transformed philosophy, we are steadfastly focused on ensuring that the District provides resources equitably to support every student, every school, and every community. Six core values guide the work we do every day for our students – student-centered, whole child, equity, academic excellence, community partnership, and continuous learning. Each role in the district supports our vision that every student deserves a rigorous, joyful, and equitable learning experience.

The Office of Multilingual-Multicultural Education (OMME) guides CPS in providing a high-quality education for all language learners attentive to a culturally and linguistically diverse community of students, families, and educators. OMME aims to achieve its mission through strategic planning, collaborative partnerships, professional development, and the production of tools and resources to improve instruction.

Job Summary:

Reporting to the EL Network Support Manager, the EL Network Specialist supports developing programs and instructional practices for English Learners to drive their academic achievement. The EL Network Specialists are expected to be experts on EL instruction and programs with proven content expertise in teaching and educational leadership. Still, specific content expertise and requirements for the EL Network Specialist will vary based on their assignment and the needs of the schools in the network. This is a crucial role in enhancing and improving English Learners’ learning experience across the district. This position focuses on building capacity among various stakeholders, providing instructional support, and contributing to developing and implementing high-quality instruction for ELs in grades PreK-12. Each EL Network Specialist will have an area of focus, such as school network support, instructional implementation, equity in programming and instruction, and dual language instruction.

The EL Network Specialist will be held accountable for the following responsibilities:

• Provide differentiated instructional support by working directly with administrators, teacher leaders, and teachers in the classroom, as appropriate, to model effective, research-based instructional practices for English learners.
• Collaborate with various teams to drive data-informed instructional planning around EL instruction and work with school-based leadership teams to actualize the implementation of appropriate EL instruction.
• Lead professional development around EL instructional practices for EL teacher leaders (ELPTs) and network administrators (PLCs, book studies, etc.).
• Coach ELPTs around EL Instructional Leadership development (e.g., using data analysis to guide instructional decisions, participating in classroom observations, etc.).
• Consult and collaborate with Chiefs, Principals, Assistant Principals, school-based Instructional Leadership Teams, and fellow Network instructional leadership to develop data-informed strategies to support EL instructional practices. These strategies include curriculum adoption/implementation support, professional development plans, direct support to EL teacher leaders, and data and progress monitoring.
• Collaborate with other CPS offices to provide EL considerations in initiatives and district-wide goals to improve EL academic outcomes.
• Actively participate in district-wide professional learning and provide the EL considerations to improve EL academic outcomes.
• Professionally represent OMME and the district during all interactions
• Other duties as assigned

In order to be successful and achieve the above responsibilities, the EL Network Specialist must possess the following qualifications:

Education Required:

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university
• Valid teaching certificate/Professional Educator’s License (PEL) issued by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) Bilingual and/or ESL endorsement(s) is required.
• Master's degree in Education field of study is strongly preferred
• Administrative endorsement is preferred

Experience Required:

• Minimum of five (5) years of classroom teaching experience, including:
• Minimum of one (1) year of experience in educational leadership (Department Chair, Grade Level lead, Instructional Leadership Team (ILT), Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS))
• Minimum of three (3) years experience working with adult learners, including coaching and/or designing and facilitating professional development for classroom teachers and school leaders

Other Requirements:

• Travel to schools and other locations throughout the districtis required
• Bilingual/multilingual proficiency is strongly preferred

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Expertise in leveraging solution-oriented problem-solving to create and implement innovative projects
• Ability to communicate effectively with all stakeholders; establish efficient working relationships with colleagues, district and school staff, and community-based organizations
• Strong instructional expertise
• Integrity, honesty, credibility, and the courage to make difficult yet necessary decisions
• Strong leadership and team-building skills, e.g., ability to develop high-performing teams united around a clear vision for serving schools and achieving student success
• Ability to build collaborative relationships with a variety of constituent groups, including external partners, to ensure the entire system operates in the most effective manner possible to support schools and principals
• Ability to use multiple data sources to set measurable goals and strategically plan to complete the goals
• Ability to define and solve problems, analyze data, and develop action plans as part of a continuous improvement cycle
• Ability to recognize failures and learn from mistakes to improve conditions for working and learning as a team
• Self-learner with excellent self-management, flexibility, and organizational skills

Conditions of Employment

As a condition of employment with the Chicago Public Schools (CPS), employees are required to:

• Establish/Maintain Chicago Residency - Employees are required to live within the geographic boundaries of the City of Chicago within six months of their CPS hire date and maintain residency throughout their employment with the district. The Chicago residency requirement does not apply to temporary/part-time positions, however, all CPS employees must be residents of Illinois.