Senior Director, Language & Literacy

At Rocketship Public Schools, we believe in the infinite possibility of human potential. We believe that every student deserves the right to dream, to discover, and to develop their unique potential and it is our responsibility and our privilege to unleash the potential inside every Rocketeer we serve. Our non-profit network of public elementary charter schools propels student achievement, develops exceptional educators, and partners with parents who enable high-quality public schools to thrive in their community. We are a collective of parents, teachers, leaders, and students working together to transform the future for underserved communities across our country. At Rocketship Public Schools, we are unleashing potential.
Position DescriptionThe Rocketship Public Schools Program Team is seeking an experienced individual for a Senior Director of Language and Literacy (SDoL&L) position. The Senior Director of Language and Literacy will provide leadership and vision in the ongoing planning, implementation, development, direction, review and evaluation of curriculum and instructional programs related to literacy, written and oral language. The Senior Director of Language and Literacy ensures that the network’s  education objectives are aligned to state frameworks and to instructional practices that yield the highest standards of student achievement, instructional excellence and whole child fulfillment. 
This individual will be a key strategic leader on the Language and Literacy team and will directly manage Associate Directors of Language & Literacy and Multilingual Learners. In this role the Senior Director of Language and Literacy will ensure that Rocketship schools remain a model for instructional excellence both in regards to student outcomes in literacy and language as well as continuing to serve all students through a culturally relevant lens. A successful candidate will ensure that Rocketship maintains a culture that puts our Rocketeers first and ensures outstanding support to our schools, school leaders, teachers, and entire school team while also ensuring a strong partnership with the Network Support Team (NeST).  This individual will combine a capacity for systems-level and strategic thinking, deep instructional knowledge, careful attention to detail, and strong interpersonal skills in building relationships with critical internal and external stakeholders.
The Senior Director of Language and Literacy reports directly to the Vice President of Academics.
The following are essential functions related to the role:

Set vision and direction for Language and Literacy instruction at Rocketship by:

• Analyze and action plan around: student achievement data, observation and coaching data, and network targets
• Collaborate with other network achievement team members to provide comprehensive instructional support and resources
• Provide guidance to the Chief Academic Officer, VP of Academics, Directors of Schools, and Principals on effective instructional support and management of language and  literacy based blocks in order to realize strong outcomes for students and families while also realizing strong levels of staff satisfaction and retention 
• Develop and lead professional development to strengthen all components of the literacy block across Rocketship regions
• Support national curriculum adoption process by overseeing the implementation of new literacy and language-related curriculum across Rocketship regions

Lead and influence team members in the following categories:

• Review and recommend textbooks, planning materials, development and other related educational materials
• Consult with external and internal partnerships 
• Strategically counsel, support and manage team members to achieve Rocketship’s mission 
• Build, develop, and lead a high performing team of mission-critical team members toward exceptional outcomes for students, families, and staff. 
• Manage team members through weekly meetings to determine and assess instructional priorities 
• Plan and conduct campus observations to inform ongoing language and literacy instructional and development strategy
• Develop and conduct highly effective mid- and end-of-year performance evaluations
• Invest, develop and influence regional achievement team members related to the Rocketship Public Schools’ language acquisition and literacy programming

Design professional development, coaching, and additional customized development for regions and school leaders by:

• Training teachers and other instructional staff in new content and teaching strategies
• Mentoring and coaching school leaders  in content knowledge and pedagogy
• Observing work of teaching staff to evaluate internally created curriculum
• Providing feedback based on individual observations and studen