Company Description

KIPP Texas Public Schools is a network of 59 public charter, open-enrollment, pre-k-12 schools educating nearly 34,000 students across Austin, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Houston, and San Antonio. Together with families and communities, our mission is to create joyful, academically excellent schools that prepare students with the skills and confidence to pursue the paths they choose —college, career, and beyond—so they can lead fulfilling lives and build a more just world.

Founded in Houston in 1994, and operating as KIPP Texas since 2018, our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and antiracism in our classrooms, in our offices, and in the communities we serve is unwavering. We are looking to hire a diverse team of dynamic, collaborative, and dedicated individuals with an unyielding belief that every child will succeed. Join our Team and Family and champion equity, chase excellence, persist with purpose, bring joy, and help us rise together.

KIPP Texas is part of the national KIPP network of 255 college-preparatory public charter schools in 20 states and the District of Columbia. Nationwide, KIPP students complete four-year college at a rate of 36 percent, comparable to the national average for all students and approximately three times higher than the average of students from low-income communities.

You can see all our job opportunities at https://kipptexas.org/join-our-team/.

Job Description

Director of Primary Instruction

The Director of Primary Instruction is an exciting opportunity for an individual with deep knowledge of curriculum, pedagogy, professional learning best practices, and instruction to play a critical role as the primary driver of secondary instructional best practices in order to drive strong implementation of the secondary curriculum in service of student achievement, college readiness, and adult best practices.

The Director of Primary Instruction will provide leadership and vision in the ongoing planning, development and implementation of the vision for primary school instructional practices. The Director ensures that the district/school curriculum implementation is aligned to state frameworks and to instructional practices that yield the highest standards of student achievement and instructional excellence. The Director of Primary Instruction reports to the Managing Director of Primary Curriculum and Instruction, and participates as a member of the Curriculum and Instruction team. Leads team in curriculum implementation, revision and professional development with a college-ready bar.

The Director of Primary Instruction works with the Managing Director of Primary Curriculum and Instruction to execute on the instructional vision for their horizontal community and priority content areas. The Director will play a critical role in coaching regional and school leadership teams in pedagogical practices aligned to curriculum and instructional strategy that lead to improved student achievement outcomes and improved curriculum implementation.

Role Description

• Equity Based Leadership: Be a model of equitable practices while teaching and insisting that instruction leaders also be models of equitable practices in their decision making for both Big and Little KIPPsters.
• Project Management: Manage the professional learning cycle aligned to building teacher content knowledge by coordinating with the Primary Curriculum & Instruction Team, KTX Instructional Excellence team, and any external partners supporting academics-based professional learning.
• Data Analysis: Analyze data at the student-level through the regional levels in order to ensure pedagogical practices are responsive to student and teacher data.
• Professional Learning: Craft and lead professional learning experiences that are rigorous, aligned, and collaborative in service of developing achievement specialists and regional directors of academic achievement, alongside their Managing Director.

Duties and Responsibility

Working with a Managing Director of Curriculum and Achievement, the Director of Instruction will:

• Plan and facilitate rigorous and engaging professional learning experiences for regional and school based academics leaders (including achievement specialists, assistant principals, and school leaders) designed to strengthen their knowledge, skills and content expertise around pedagogy and curriculum implementation.
• Create and execute on systems to strategically gather input and feedback from academics leaders to consistently ensure equity of voice in instructional decisions
• Directly manage the Manager of Special Curriculum supporting curriculum for Social Emotional Learning (SEL), Fine Arts, and Physical Education
• Manage the access to professional learning resources for Fine Arts, PE, and SEL teachers
• Model anti-racist and equitable practices for academics leaders
• Institute strong instructional and pedagogical practices to support schools in attaining strong student achievement outcomes for ALL students, including students in specialized cohorts
• Support school and academic leaders by staying well-informed of current curricular and educational thoughts, trends, and practices, as well as, proposed legislation impacting the schools
• Work alongside the Managing Director to execute on instructional vision for their horizontal community and content areas
• Support curriculum and cohesive coaching cycle implementation at all levels, including in planning and facilitating monthly assistant principal and school leaders
• Support work around codifying best practices related to internalization
• Responsible for developing achievement specialists and regional directors of academic achievement alongside the MD
• Participate in professional development to stay attuned to national KIPP instructional frameworks
• Ensure that school leader managers and school leaders receive additional support in critical areas

Qualifications

QUALIFICATIONS:

Education and Knowledge:

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution with a focus in Education preferred
• Proven success as a instructional leader as defined by an ability to drive results and build academically excellent schools through others; Principal in Residence or Principal-level experience preferred
• Master’s Degree preferred, completion of Texas Reading Academies (or LETRS) preferred

Skills:

• Excellent attention to detail and a high level of accuracy required
• Excellent organizational and strategic thinking skills required
• Excellent leadership and management skills required; the ability to impact, influence, motivate, educate, coach, and inspire both internal and external audiences
• Strong skills in the area of pedagogical best practices and secondary curriculum
• Proven track record of success in planning and facilitating professional learning experiences
• Ability to plan, make decisions, and execute based on unforeseen, future circumstances
• Strong work ethic coupled with an enthusiastic and passionate approach to work
• Articulate, professional demeanor with strong self-confidence and initiative
• Excellent interpersonal skills; Ability to function as both a catalyst and a coach, guiding people at all levels of the organization by utilizing a facilitative approach that results in advancing the learning and development of others
• Ability to clearly articulate and sell a vision, outline and detail a project plan, and follow up the articulations and outlines with thorough execution
• Public speaking
• Proven writing, verbal communication, and presentation skills
• Strong typing skills are required
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint)
• Proficiency using computers, printers, copy machines, and fax machines
• Commitment to the mission and vision of KIPP Texas

Additional Information

Compensation and Benefits

Salary is based on years of experience, degree of education, and level of expertise.

As a full-time KIPP Texas employee you are eligible to participate in all KIPP Texas’ benefit plans. KIPP Texas offers a robust variety of benefits choices with competitive rates, including medical, dental, and vision options, life insurance, fertility, and disability plans starting as low as $25/month.

KIPP provides equal employment opportunities for all applicants and employees. As an equal opportunity employer, we hire without consideration of race, religion, creed, color, national origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status, or disability.