Managing Director of Teaching & Learning - Camden - KIPP Team and Family (KIPP New Jersey & KIPP Miami)

About KIPP TEAM & Family

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.  

The Managing Director of Teaching & Learning, Camden  serves as a key member of the KIPP Camden regional leadership team and the KIPP TEAM & Family Teaching & Learning Team. This role will be largely Camden based, with periodic travel to other KIPP regions and events as needed. 

Lead the Implementation and Management of a World-Class Academic Program in the KIPP Camden Region 

• Design and implement a strategy for curriculum and assessment adoption and/or modification and improvement, to meet the demands of the range of standardized tests we hold as our north star: i-Ready, mCLASS DIBELS, NJSLA, ACT/SAT, and AP. 
• Develop and oversee systems and protocols for quality control and vetting of curricular materials, assessments, and professional development resources. 
• Develop and oversee systems for data-driven instruction that facilitates the analysis of and response to mastery data and students’ GPA. 
• Actively respond to data (achievement, observation, perception, etc.) to engage in year-over-year improvement of program, as well as mid-year course corrections as needed. 
• Collaborate with the Managing Director of Schools  to deploy talent and resources (e.g. additional coaching support, model leadership, etc.), based on takeaways from academic progress monitoring. 
• Manage all academics and academic operations matters in the region, including but not limited to: report cards, grading and gradebooks, state testing coordination, curriculum purchasing, data and progress monitoring of academics, region-wide academic course correction, scheduling, etc. 
• Lead region-wide processes for driving student outcomes such as state testing, academic progress monitoring, test preparation, etc. 
• Develop and/or cultivate subject matter expertise across grades and disciplines K-12, in order to inform NJ-specific academic policies and decision-making about programs.
• Collaborate with the Data Team to develop and monitor outcomes on KIPP NJ dashboards.

Develop and Lead a Teaching & Learning TEAM in the KIPP Camden Region

• Work as a “bridge” between program and school management, by building relationships and investment with all parties and supporting the efficacy of T&L teammates in our schools. 
• Develop the short-term and long-term strategy for growth and build-out of the Teaching  & Learning TEAM in KIPP Camden.
• Directly manage Achievement Directors in the KIPP Camden region, including but not limited to weekly check-ins, observations and feedback on practice, and curriculum and artifact review. This will include working in schools across K - 12. 

• Achievement Directors are responsible for: 

  • Managing an academic program (curriculum, assessment, implementation support) that upholds our vision for literacy or math instruction and long-term learning in a specific grade band and subject area. This looks like: 

• With support and oversight from the broader T&L TEAM, adapt and/or create curriculum and assessments to meet the demands of the KIPP Camden context, prioritizing places where the data most demands it.
• Work from the curriculum resources our schools have adopted, and continue to iterate on and modify these materials based on data and needs.
• Develop or modify rigorous assessments that align to the grade level expectations for each grade, and progress developmentally as our students advance in reading level proficiency. 
• Develop (and modify as needed) the scope and sequence of lessons in the assigned grade and subject.
• 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 the curriculum and/or by deploying coaching support to places most in need.
• Collaborate with the broader Teaching & Learning team to design and implement superior protocols for intellectual preparation, looking at student work, and responding to data. 
• Coaching and supporting the implementation of an academic program in a specific grade band and subject area. This looks like: 
• Provide direct support to our schools in the grade span, by engaging in coaching & strategy sessions with each school in our Camden region.  
• By working with instructional leaders in each school across K - 8, 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. 
• Analyze data and student work from major assessments with instructional leaders at each school and make recommendations about responding to misconceptions and implementing instructional next steps.
• Serve as a point person for all things programmatic, operational, data-related, and logistical – from assessment questions to materials management – related to early elementary education in KIPP Camden. 

• Leading and engaging in professional development in a specific grade band and subject area. This looks like: 

  • As a resident content expert, lead professional development for leaders and teachers in accordance with the T&L team’s annual professional development strategy, including AP Cohort Meetings, One TEAM, One Sound, Leading For Learning, Heartbeat Summit, etc. Note that, depending on the PD strategy, group sizes for professional development sessions may exceed 100 depending on the PD venue.

  • Support content TEAM meetings in elementary literacy or math, on an as-needed basis.

  • Engage in research and professional development opportunities within and outside of the T&L team, to continuously grow and develop our team’s knowledge based, spread best practices, and improve on our collective coaching and leadership skills. 

• Support with the role of an Achievement Director as the full Camden Teaching and Learning team is built out. 
• Collaborate with members of the KIPP NJ and KIPP Miami Teaching & Learning team on best practice sharing.
• Report to the Camden Managing Director of Schools on key school health metrics and service level approach

Serve as an Outstanding TEAMmate on the KIPP Camden Regional Leadership TEAM

• Serve as a key member of the Camden Regional Leadership TEAM, supporting with and communicating about region-wide decision-making, communication, and collaboration. 
• Develop regional strategies for driving improvements in academics, culture, and staff engagement alongside other members of the regional leadership team. 
• Serve as a panelist or speaker at New Jersey and Camden region-wide events like Staff Town Halls; One TEAM, One Sound; regional professional development days, etc. 
• Participate in EKG Walk-Through processes, to objectively score schools on instructional practice and to generate feedback designed to move schools forward.
• Participate in teacher rubric scoring and rating, to help schools norm their scoring and calibrate the rubric scores for all teachers in a building.
• Participate in and/or lead routine meetings with the Camden RLT and the T&L team, to solve tactical matters, engage in strategic work together, build vertical content knowledge and program, etc. 
• Participate in routine and non-routine meetings with Heads of Schools, School Leaders, and APs, to solve tactical matters, engage in strategic work together, and respond to the most pressing needs our schools have. 

Must-Haves:

• Kid- and teacher-focused: makes recommendations and plans based on what is best for kids and teachers; exhibits a front-line obsession.
• Leadership experience  --  has served as a School Leader or network leader for five years or more. As a coach and leader for other leaders in our organization, the person in this role needs to have walked the walk. 
• Exceptional content knowledge and alignment to our instructional vision -- knows the ins and outs of everything related to standards, assessments, and best practices within the discipline.
• Strong data analysis skills: can look at an assessment and data set (including sets of student work), diagnose challenges, and immediately recommend clear next steps for instructional leaders and/or teachers.
• Presence and gravitas: can command the attention of a room when delivering feedback, explaining data, or leading professional development.
• Responsiveness, service orientation, and ability to invest and inspire others -- the T&L TEAM exists to support and serve our schools, and so a top-down mentality will not work well.
• Big picture thinking -- can develop and drive a vision that will serve schools across multiple cities. Does not get bogged down by logistics or uncertainty.  
• Detail-orientation -- while keeping an eye trained on the big picture, simultaneously does not let important details slip through the cracks.
• Excellent communication skills -- can speak and write compellingly about the discipline and all the nitty gritty details stakeholders will need to know in order to achieve results.
• Proactiveness – does not wait for explicit direction but rather asks the appropriate questions and self-directs; takes on additional projects without compromising the integrity of existing ones.
• Flexibility -- sees unforeseen obstacles and challenges as an opportunity to design a better solution
• Content knowledge and expertise -- ideally in one of the middle or elementary ELA and Math content areas, but if not, the ability to quickly and comprehensively learn content in order to consistently coach to a higher bar. 

In addition to a competitive salary, KIPP TEAM & FAMILY offers a full comprehensive benefits plan, including health care, retirement, a school laptop and transportation benefits for TEAMmates commuting into New Jersey from the New York City area.