ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION
The Black Teacher Collaborative (BTC) believes in the genius, power, and beauty of Black children and the unique role of Black Teachers in cultivating their gifts. BTC seeks to ensure that all Black children will have challenging, affirming, and innovative learning environments staffed by a critical mass of Black educators equipped to maximize their shared racial identity to push students’ academic growth, sociopolitical consciousness, and socio-emotional well-being. BTC aspires to be the leading expert and service provider for supporting the success of Black k-12 schools while expanding our impact across the American South and to urban centers serving high concentrations of Black students.   

Black Teacher Collaborative is a social entrepreneurial venture providing professional development, products, and services for Black educators working in Black schools.  BTC’s work centers around our Black Liberatory Pedagogical framework that seeks to represent the ideological and instructional manifestations of the concept of education as a vehicle for liberation for Black people as represented across the Black teaching tradition translated into a 21st context.   BTC’s work and pedagogical framework are grounded in the socio-political theory of Black Self-Determination.  We marry our pedagogical framework with a critical interrogation of mainstream best practices and emerging innovations in teaching and learning, Black child development, and the spectrum of disciplines that intersect with Black children and Black educators' educational experiences. 

THE ROLE
BTC is seeking K-3 Literacy Instructional Coaches who will be integral members of the K-3 Literacy Academy which is a two-year professional development experience for early career elementary teachers focused on K-3 literacy theory, effective literacy instructional practices, and BTC’s Black Liberatory Pedagogy. The Literacy Instructional Coaches will work closely with all program participants and other stakeholders in our partnership schools to  have an exceptional and dynamic learning experience. Throughout the school year, The BTC Instructional Coaches will support teachers via goal-driven individualized and cohort learning experiences that are aligned to teacher and student outcomes. 

THE CANDIDATE
We are seeking candidates who believe deeply in BTC’s mission, who demonstrate intellectual curiosity, a growth mindset, persistence and grit in challenging situations and thrive in an innovative, self-driven and dynamic virtual work environment. The candidate should demonstrate a deep knowledge of early literacy, reading science, and pedagogical content knowledge, and the ability to integrate that knowledge with Black liberatory educational practices. The candidate should have a record of success as a teacher and experience coaching teachers to achieve professional development goals. The K-3 Literacy Academy will be implemented across 3 states - Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana - so the ideal candidate will be located in one of those regions.

The BTC Instructional Coach will be able to work independently and support teachers in both virtual and in-person learning environments while demonstrating high expectations for both Black students and Black teachers. The candidate should be comfortable collaborating with school and district-level leaders and serving as a trusted advisor to them. They will also have strong organizational, communication, time and project management skills.       

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
The K-3 Literacy Instructional Coach is an experienced and successful elementary teacher, coach, and adult learning facilitator who will play the most significant role in developing educators’ teaching skills by supporting the early career elementary teachers who are participating in this program towards the teacher and student outcomes outlined in the program description. The responsibilities of the Literacy  Instructional Coach include, but are not limited to:

1. Actively develop educators  toward program outcomes by:
   • Provide individualized virtual and in-person coaching experiences for up to 22 teachers approximately twice per month to help them implement structured literacy and Black liberatory pedagogy in their classrooms.
   • Provide individualized coaching to school leaders to help them implement structured literacy and Black liberatory instruction with their teachers via debrief meetings.
   • Facilitate regular data and video review meetings to ensure teachers are using student reading data to plan for instruction.
   • Monitoring teachers’ progress on the e-learning platform and using that data to engage with teachers online and provide additional resources that extend the learning from coaching sessions.
   • Facilitate bi-monthly communities of practice with your coaching group to share learning, collaborate on action research change projects, and build community.
   • Deliver in-person professional development to the pilot regions on the science of reading, structured literacy, and Black liberatory pedagogy for teachers and leaders for the Summer intensive and other requested PD days.
   • Evaluating and tracking teachers’ performance by (1) accurately assessing teachers’ proficiency in the core skills, knowledge, and mindsets in order to identify the highest priority development areas and (2) using data to identify trends in performance for individuals and groups and set specific goals.
   • Keeping accurate records of teachers’ performance in BTCs program data systems.
   • Support teachers through the development and implementation of their action research change or innovation projects.
   • Track cohort progress in partnership with the Research team and identify gaps in network, district, and participant understanding to better drive outcomes.
   • Complete other duties as assigned to ensure the K-3 Academy meets its goals.
2. Establish a culture grounded in Black Liberatory Education principles that equip teachers to cultivate students’ genius, power and beauty by: 
   • Deeply internalizing the BTC Pedagogy and aligned instructional techniques.
   • Coaching, and motivating a group of up to 22 teachers to reach ambitious goals with Black students. 
   • Promoting analytical self-reflection and goal setting in teachers in order to accelerate growth and student achievement.
3. Contribute to the Program and Innovation team by:
   • Attending weekly P&I meetings to provide updates on K-3 Academy progress.
   • Recommending and implementing interventions and support structures to ensure all teachers improve their teaching practice.
   • Collaborate with the BTC Design team to inform resource needs for teachers  based on ongoing one-on-one sessions. 
   • Create a midyear and end of year report of recommendations for the program design and implementation continuous improvement process.

QUALIFICATIONS

• 8+ years of successful elementary teaching experience with proven results in students’ literacy growth. 
• 3+ years of successful instructional coaching experience in K-3 literacy.
• Bachelor's degree required; Master degree in Reading strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated commitment to continuous learning by staying abreast of developments in the field 
• Experience observing and providing direct feedback to teachers, both written and verbal, that leads to observable improvement.
• Ability to use a Learning Management System (LMS) to communicate additional resources, evaluation or tools to BTC educators.
• Ability to use observation software such as TORSHTalent to conduct virtual coaching and feedback. 
• Strong analytical skills, including the ability to utilize quantitative and qualitative analysis to inform decision-making and set ambitious goals for BTC educators.
• Ability to utilize data to make recommendations for the iterative design of the program  process. 
• Demonstrated ability to motivate and inspire Black students and adult learners.
• Demonstrated ability to connect with adult learners quickly and to build strong working and mentoring relationships.
• Demonstrate a growth mindset and a desire to continually improve through feedback and coaching. 
• Demonstrated ability to balance multiple priorities while maintaining a positive outlook and flexibility in a high-impact, fast-paced environment.
• Exceptional skills in time management and project management.
• Evidence of working successfully in teams or cooperative settings.
• Experience using virtual platforms to facilitate engaging live sessions for adults.
• Required on-site travel to school sites (60%) to conduct teacher observations and coaching.
• Required  travel to regional, organization-wide meetings at least 4 times per year.

Disclaimer: This job requisition provides a high-level job definition. It is not intended to provide a comprehensive or exclusive list of job duties. As such, job duties and/or responsibilities within the context of this job requisition may change at the discretion of the employee’s direct supervisor.