High School ELA Achievement Director

Company Description

About KIPP TEAM & Family

The Director of Compensation is a hybrid role which consists of a combination of in person and remote work.

KIPP TEAM & Family is our network office that includes support teams - such as Leadership Development, Recruitment, Advocacy, Facilities, Finance, HR and more - dedicated to empowering our schools and ensuring the success of KIPP students throughout New Jersey and Miami. Our schools are part of the nationally recognized “Knowledge Is Power Program” network of free, open-enrollment, college-preparatory public schools dedicated to preparing students for success in college and in life. The first KIPP New Jersey school opened in Newark in 2002 and since then our school network has expanded to educate 8,135 students in grades K-12. By 2027, KIPP New Jersey will provide a world-class education to over 10,300 students across Newark and Camden. To learn more, visit www.kippnj.org.

In 2018, we grew our KIPP community in response to a need for high-quality school options for students in Greater Miami’s Urban Core communities. That led to the creation of KIPP Miami, which currently educates more than 1,000 students in four schools, with plans to reach 5,800 students by 2025. By offering highly effective educators with strong bonds to families, more time in school learning, services that support a variety of student needs, and a culture focused on achievement, our students in New Jersey and Miami are on the path to and through college, career, and choice-filled lives.  

Job Description

Here’s what you need to know:

At KIPP NJ and KIPP Miami, Achievement Directors serve first as members of our K-12 multi-city Teaching & Learning TEAM, and then as leaders of their discipline in the academic program. Using best practices, standards knowledge, vertical thinking, input and feedback from a wide range of stakeholders, and an equity lens for developing content, Achievement Directors develop and manage our curriculum and assessment model, with the goal of improving long-term learning for kids. In addition to managing curriculum and assessments, Achievement Directors are responsible for increasing the instructional leadership capacity of school-based leaders (including Heads of Schools, School Leaders, and Assistant Principals) by deepening everyone’s subject matter expertise and modeling and coaching the instructional power moves. 

This is a multi-city role that will require ~2-3 days per week in-person in our Newark high schools, and ~1-2 days per week in-person at our high school in Camden, NJ.

Specifically, Achievement Directors are responsible for driving academic achievement and growth on: 

• State and standardized tests (NJGPA/NJSLA, FSA, STAR, ACT)
• Internal assessments (i-Ready, F&P, unit-level tests, midterms, finals)

The High School Literacy Achievement Director will…

Design and Deliver Responsive Curriculum & Assessments in High School Literacy 

• Champion the adoption of a nationally-vetted curriculum in our high school English courses.  This will include fully internalizing the curricula’s materials and assessments, as well as publishing and packaging them for leaders and teachers.  Provide any specific modifications or adjustments to these materials based on our Vision for Humanities instruction.  
• Develop and/or finalize a rigorous assessment model that aligns to the grade level expectations for each grade, and prepares students for the assessments needed for graduation: NJGPA/NJSLA, ACT, and where applicable, AP.  
• Prepare module overviews and guidance for internalization for each unit of study. 
• Monitor the implementation of the curriculum, and make and communicate changes and improvements to content as needed.
• Review and respond to assessment data by making adjustments and modifications to curriculum materials and/or by deploying coaching support to places most in need.

Coach and Support the Implementation of the Academic Program 

• Support our high schools to get extraordinary results in both growth and achievement, by engaging in coaching & strategy sessions with each school as aligned to that school’s plan for coaching and development.  
• By working with instructional leaders in each school, build our school-based leaders’ content knowledge and instructional leadership capacity -- this may include engaging in walk-throughs, student work analysis protocols, coaching O3s, leading and monitoring content meetings, supporting PD implementation, and more. 
• Ensure that every one of our schools is creating equitable experiences for students by increasing support at high-needs campuses when needed, and partner