Posted on June 28, 2012

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Director of Education and Learning

Phipps Community Development Corporation’s (PCDC) mission is to is to help individuals and families access academic, economic, and civic opportunities that enhance their ability to strengthen their neighborhoods, succeed at school and work, raise healthy families, and become engaged members of their communities. PCDC is a 40-year-old multi-service nonprofit providing a comprehensive network of educational, vocational and community development programs for residents of low-income communities across the Bronx and Manhattan.

PCDC serves approximately 8,000 children, teens and adults in more than 40 programs and continues to expand. On-site and neighborhood-based social, education, and career services include: Head Start, after-school, summer camp, literacy and ESL, GED, college prep, work readiness, resident support, and family programs for children and adults. These services are funded by government grants and contributions from foundations, corporations and individuals.

Position Overview:
The Phipps Community Development Corporation has recently received funding to support an agency-wide initiative to develop and strengthen education components across the breadth of programming to support student academic success. The Director of Education and Learning position has been created to provide leadership during this essential time, and will be tasked with creating educational standards, facilitating the development of a progressive curriculum pipeline, and evaluating outcomes to ensure quality and continuous improvement. The Director will assess the current status of programs and develop a strategic plan to increase the quality of services through the creation of a curriculum, assessment tools and professional development that can be tailored to meet the needs of the specific sites and the population being served. The Director is part of the management staff at PCDC reporting to the Executive Director/CEO and will be directly supervising an Education Specialist.

Responsibilities:

• Direct the design, support, and effective implementation of student-friendly, goal-oriented instruction that results in holistic academic success for all students
• Serve as a primary organizational expert in all aspects of teaching and learning, including current trends and research in the field of education
• Forge collaborations with instructional staff across the agency to ensure that curriculum and instruction meet the needs of a diverse population of learners, is aligned with NYS learning standards, and meets contractual expectations and benchmarks
• Build and support mutually beneficial relationships with external partners (including Principals, teachers, instructional leaders, youth and workforce development professionals)
• Craft and implement academic intervention strategies that address the individualized learning strengths of a diverse population of learners (ages 0-24 and within in-school and out-of-school settings)
• Develop a vision and aligning evaluation rubric to access the growth and impact of this initiative
• Conduct periodic audits of instructional programming to ensure program quality, including sound provision of instruction, to help ensure the achievement of student goals
• Hire, manage, support, and appraise the performance of curriculum and instruction team staff
• Collaborate with an interdisciplinary leadership team to ensure the integration of all program components, increased services to youth and to continually make adjustments to individualized program plans
• Work with instructional and other staff to set high and measurable goals for student achievement
• Oversee the curriculum and instruction team’s entering of data as needed for contract compliance and program evaluation and provide them with on-going instructional and curriculum development support
• Manage the curriculum and instruction program budget

Qualifications:

• Significant leadership experience in the field of education, ideally with a combination of teaching and administrative experience in both school and out of school time settings;
• 2-3 years of leadership experience in youth and/or workforce development with strong program management experience that supports both academic and social needs of youth including supervisory experience with instructional staff
• Demonstrated record in supporting academic results with low-income, urban adolescents across mixed-skill and age groupings and among English Language Learners and striving learners.
• Familiarity with research-based approaches to hands-on, experiential, differential instruction and community–based and/or project based learning models.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Ability to adapt quickly to change and work within a results-oriented team environment
• Enthusiasm, creativity, initiative – and a sense of humor are a MUST!
• Bachelor’s degree in education or related field required; Master’s degree strongly preferred

Application Instructions

Please upload a resume and thoughtful cover letter, outlining how your skills and experience meet the qualifications of the position and stating how you heard about this opportunity, both in Word format, to Dianne Morales, Executive Director/CEO at http://jobs.cgcareers.org/application.aspx?id=1920. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

PCDC offers a competitive salary and benefits, commensurate with experience and skills.

PCDC is an equal opportunity employer.

About Commongood Careers:

Phipps Community Development Corporation has partnered with Commongood Careers to conduct the search for a Director of Education and Learning. Commongood Careers is a mission-driven search firm that supports the hiring needs of the nation’s most innovative and high-performing nonprofit organizations. Since its founding in 2006, Commongood Careers has completed over 500 searches at 150 organizations in 26 states. Founded and staffed by nonprofit professionals, Commongood Careers offers personalized, engaged services to jobseekers and organizations throughout the hiring process, as well as access to a wealth of knowledge about nonprofit careers. Learn more about nonprofit jobs at Commongood Careers.