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

The Opportunity

The Senior Director of STEM is an exciting opportunity for an individual with deep knowledge of curriculum, standards and instruction to play a critical role as the primary driver of primary STEM curriculum creation in order to drive
improved student results, including growth and achievement, college and career readiness, and closing the achievement gap.
 

The Senior Director of Primary STEM will provide leadership and vision in the ongoing planning, development, direction, review and evaluation of the district’s STEM curriculum and instructional services, federal programs, career and technical education services, assessment, research and evaluation services. The Senior Director ensures that the district/school education objectives are aligned to state frameworks and to instructional practices that yield the highest standards of student achievement and instructional excellence. The Director of STEM 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.
 

Role Description
● Curriculum and Assessment Management: Manage the creation and vetting of curriculum materials and assessments that align to and then exceeds the expectations of state standards and meets the preparation and success bar for Advanced Placement (AP) success in high school (including AP English and History Courses).
● Student Achievement: Ensure that curriculum is responsive to student achievement and create the expectation that all curriculum specialists and implementation leads are oriented that way by leading a team that embraces accountability and outstanding student results
● Data Driven Curriculum Creation: Lead curriculum team on the use of data to drive student achievement and hold team accountable for adjusting curriculum for continuous improvement
● Professional Learning: Planning professional development and model exemplar implementation of the curriculum and best practices for lesson planning and delivery leveraging the curriculum to direct reports
 

Duties and Responsibility
The Senior Director of Primary STEM Curriculum’s responsibilities will include, but not be limited to the following:

● Manage the development, implementation, and evaluation of a comprehensive curriculum implementation plan for the following: math and science
● Plan and facilitate professional learning related to curriculum implementation and best practices for regions and schools; as well as professional learning for the state teaching and learning team
● Develop a comprehensive process for creation and vetting curriculum, curriculum resources and assessments
● Supervise the creation and analysis of all state and regional assessments, including the creation of an annual state-wide assessment calendar
● Consistently analyze data from assessments to evaluate the effectiveness of the curriculum and lead the team in making the appropriate adjustments
● Manage and vet the curriculum implementation supports and data driven curriculum resources created by the STEM curriculum team
● Recruit, select and retain outstanding curriculum writers for the state level team
● Support in managing the curriculum budget for math and science, ensuring alignment to state-wide priorities and maintains the principles of fiscal responsibility
● Collaborate with the Academic Programs team to ensure adequate supports, resources and considerations are embedded in curriculum to support students with additional needs
● Development and implementation of clear communication strategies regarding the curriculum and assessment initiatives, new resource creation and other pertinent information regarding curriculum and assessment
● Work closely with key members of regional teams (Deputy Chief of Academic Achievements and other leaders) and the state academics teams (Academic Achievement and Academic Programs)
● Analyze statewide and regional data, in collaboration with the state academics team and provide strong recommendations to ensure regions and schools are on track to achieving EOY targets and 2020 goals

Qualifications

Required Education and/or Experience

• Bachelor’s degree required and Master’s Degree in Curriculum and Instruction or Education Leadership highly preferred. or equivalent practical experience

Skills 

Instructional Knowledge and Expertise
● Proven ability to develop and deliver programming that drives improved academic performance for all student populations; knows effective practice for differentiating instruction
● Deep understanding of curricular frameworks, pedagogy, and quality classroom materials; experience developing and implementing curriculum for a wide variety of grade levels and subjects
● Strong knowledge of high-quality instructional practices and the ability to lead others to implement these practices consistently across classrooms and school sites
● Thorough knowledge of effective instruction and knowledge of current theories of curriculum instruction and assessment
 

Empathy and Commitment to Cause
● Deep understanding of the urban school system environment and commitment to improving student achievement
● Passionately believes that all students can achieve at high levels
● Demonstrates cultural competence

Communication, Interpersonal and Team Skills
● Builds and maintains strong relationships
● Works successfully alone or on a team
● Coaches, coordinates, and leads teams
● Strong verbal and written communication skills; tailors message for the audience, context, and mode of communication
● Actively listens to others and able to effectively interpret others’ motivations and perceptions.
● Builds consensus and resolves conflicts; exhibits willingness to have difficult conversations
● Skillfully navigates existing political structures/systems
 

Problem Solving and Systems Thinking
● Understands how various systems / departments interact to achieve the long term goal
● Makes decisions using data and technology
● Takes initiative to solve problems and create stakeholder buy-in
● Identifies and prioritizes mission critical issues with alignment of people, time and resources
● Offer innovative solutions to seemingly intractable problems.
● Exhibits strong focus on goals and results. Sets clear metrics for success
● Removes barriers or obstacles that make it difficult for principals to achieve their goals and ensures that school leaders have the resources they need to succeed
● Demonstrates excellent execution and project management skills, including attention to detail, organizational skills, ability to balance the big picture with detailed steps to reach the end goal, and ability to balance multiple projects
under tight deadlines
 

Leadership skills
● Motivates, inspires, and moves other adults to action to achieve ambitious goal
● Skilled at re-envisioning, building, and managing a team, especially in a time of growth and change; excellent at identifying talent and taking advantage of each person’s skills and contribution to team effort
● Builds and maintains positive relationships with individuals and groups
● Moves groups to consensus and resolves conflicts. Exhibits willingness to have difficult conversations
● Builds coalitions and works collaboratively with diverse stakeholders at all levels, including but not limited to region personnel, students, families, communities, and/or advocacy groups
● Establishes clear expectations, deliverables and deadlines
● Sets clear agendas and facilitates effective meetings
● Ability to train, supervise, and evaluate staff from different cultural backgrounds and skill sets

Additional Information

Compensation and Benefits

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, and disability plans.

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.