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Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is one of the largest school districts in the United States, serving over 330,000 students in 600+ schools and employing nearly 36,000 people, most of them teachers.  CPS has set ambitious goals to ensure that every student, in every school and every neighborhood, has access to a world-class learning experience that prepares each for success in college, career, and civic life.  In order to fulfill this mission, we make three commitments to our students, their families, and all Chicagoans: academic progress, financial stability, and integrity.  Six core values are embedded within these commitments – student-centered, whole child, equity, academic excellence, community partnership, and continuous learning.

District-run CPS schools are organized into 18 networks. which includes a recently formed Option High School Network, which provides administrative support, strategic direction, and leadership development to specific schools within each network.  This network support model is designed to support the unique needs of CPS Option High Schools and their school leaders who focus exclusively on those needs. The Options Network supports, authorizes, and manages a portfolio of district, charter, contract, and ALOP schools and programs serving approximately 6,000 students. 

Job Summary: 

Reporting to the Director of Data Analytics, theNetwork Data Strategist, Options will support the Options Network, currently serving 36 urban schools, including 4 district-managed, 8 Alternative Learning Opportunities Programs (ALOP), 6 contract and 18 charter schools.  In partnership with Network leadership and School Principals, the Network Data Strategist. Options will serve in a critical role in building a robust data strategy for the assigned Networks and Schools in order to facilitate strong planning processes around increasing student achievement.   

Also working closely with the Director of Authorization and School Options, the Network Data Strategist will be a key member of the Options Authorization team that oversees initiatives that hold schools accountable to criteria set forth in their School Agreements with the Board of Education of the City of Chicago (the “Board”), applicable CPS policy, and the Illinois Charter Schools Law. 

The Network Data Strategist, Options will be held accountable for the following responsibilities:

• Build capacity among School and Network leaders to engage in robust cycles of Strategic Planning and Data Inquiry -
• • Coordinate with and support the Chief of Schools’ (Chief) strategies to develop principal and school team capacity in alignment with the district, the Options Network strategic priorities, and the Continuous Improvement Process. This includes supporting the Chief in assisting school operators, principals, and their teams in conducting root cause analyses, developing theories of action, and building coherent multi-year strategies. 
  • Support charter and contract school operators, principals, and school teams in the development, implementation, and evaluation of their schools’ Continuous Improvement Work Plans (CIWP) by building capacity around strong cycles of inquiry and the use of data for planning.
  • Provide frequent, actionable feedback to assist principals and their leadership teams in improving their data strategy to achieve better results.
  • Build the capacity of school teams to execute strong, data-driven instructional cycles.
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  • Support the generation and evaluation of school performance data for the development of charter, contract, and ALOP school renewal recommendations. 
  • Support school teams that have been identified in the Academic Remediation process, including but not limited to, creating continuous improvement tools, building capacity around strong cycles of inquiry, and measuring quantifiable outcomes of Remediation goal implementation.

• Act as a process expert and sense maker for Data Inquiry spanning multiple Central Office Departments and CPS Initiatives (e.g.; Assessment Data, academic accountability calculation, MTSS protocols, Student Discipline Data, SPED Compliance Data, etc) -
• • Remain knowledgeable of changes in data-relevant CPS policies and initiatives such as those pertaining to accountability and assessment, and student-based outcomes such as discipline and SPED compliance.
  • Counsel school teams and leaders on how to interpret data with fidelity to best analytic practice and the content of CPS policies and initiatives.
  • Build the capacity of School and Network leaders to plan with regard given to Options School Accountability policies, Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (“MTSS”) protocols, and Assessment metric calculation.
  • Build the capacity of school network and campus-based leaders to plan cycles of data monitoring around not only academic performance data, but compliance data that directly affects the student experience, such as special education compliance and student discipline data.
  • Explore methods to generate and communicate performance metrics related to the academic, financial and operational performance of schools

• Data access, analytics, and selection - 
• • Provide schools and networks access to datasets as needed to support robust engagement with cycles of data inquiry and serve as the expert and resource in understanding and accessing relevant CPS' data systems for charter and contract schools.
  • Provide expertise and consultation on the selection of leading and lagging metric indicators for planning purposes.
  • Support Chiefs so that they can assist Principals and Instructional Leadership Teams in setting goals and selecting appropriate measures to monitor the progress of school-based programs.
  • Provide strategic data analysis to the Chief of Schools to improve student outcomes and the effectiveness of schools, programs, and district initiatives.
  • Identify implications of school and Network performance data and make strategic recommendations to Chief and Network staff.
  • Serve as the Network expert and resource in understanding and accessing CPS’ data systems
  • Manage the collection of charter and contract school student and employee-level data for District accountability purposes, as well as the Illinois State Board of Education.
  • Ensure data quality and integrity across school data submissions, adhering to guiding principles for analytic practice as established by the Data Governance Council.
  • Identify implications of school and network performance data to make strategic recommendations to senior leadership and the Board around charter and contract school actions.
  • Participate in District’s Data Analyst User Group
  • Must work with approved enterprise analytic toolset (SAS or SQL).
  • Adhere to a set of guiding principles for analytic practice as established by the Data Governance Council.
• Other duties as assigned. 

In order to be successful and achieve the above responsibilities, the Network Data Strategist. Options must possess the following qualifications: 

Education Required: 

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university is required; Preferred fields of study - Computer Science, Business, Education, or related field
• Master’s degree preferred 

Experience Required: 

• Minimum of five (5) years of professional experience in data analysis E.g., data cleaning, transformation, modeling/regression analysis, summarizing and data visualizations, and trend analysis) and relationship management required
• Experience working with data analytic tools (SAS, R, SPSS, STATA, other related tools) required

• Experience writing code preferred 

• Experience with Microsoft Power BI preferred
• Experience working with High School or Elementary Assessments, team structures, and data cycles preferred

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: 

• Strong Consulting skills 
• Self-starter with an eagerness to learn and proactively problem-solve challenges
• Strong knowledge of Excel and/or Google Sheets, including the ability to combine and report on datasets 

• Ability to use statistical techniques and develop meaningful metrics

• Ability to clearly and accurately communicate data and methodological details to non-technical audiences
• Strong analytical, data management and data visualization skills
• Strategic thinker capable of generating actionable insights from data and making recommendations to instructional leaders for improving instructional practice

• Ability to take a logical approach to research and analysis opportunities
• Strong knowledge of critical issues in education and school planning
• Ability to collaborate with or coach adult learners in designing and facilitating professional development for classroom teachers and school leaders
• Excellent report writing and project management skills; strong attention to detail
• Ability to build trusting relationships and function effectively with internal departments, external partners, Chiefs, and school-based staff
• Excellent communication skills (Verbal, Written, Listening)

 Conditions of Employment

As a condition of employment with the Chicago Public Schools (CPS), employees are required to:

· Establish/Maintain Chicago Residency- Employees are required to live within the geographic boundaries of the City of Chicago within six months of their CPS hire date and maintain residency throughout their employment with the district. The Chicago residency requirement does not apply to temporary/part-time positions, however, all CPS employees must be residents of Illinois.

• Be Fully Vaccinated Against COVID-19- Unless approved for a medical or religious exemption, all employees are required to be up-to-date on COVID-19 vaccinations, including boosters, and to submit proof of vaccination to the district within 30 days of hire. “Up-to-date” on vaccination is defined as being at least two weeks past all primary vaccine doses and any applicable boosters. Unvaccinated staff with an approved exemption must submit to weekly testing.