Associate Director - Content, Secondary English Language Arts

Salary: $79,864.00 - $97,806.00 Annually
Location : Thurston County - Olympia, WA
Job Type: Full Time - Permanent
Remote Employment: Flexible/Hybrid
Job Number: 2024-00955
Department: Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction
Division: Secondary Education and Pathway Preparation
Opening Date: 01/24/2024
Closing Date: 2/7/2024 11:59 PM Pacific
Description
WASHINGTON MANAGEMENT SERVICE
JOB ANNOUNCEMENT
Associate Director - Content, Secondary English Language Arts
$79,864 - $97,806 annually
Closes February 07, 2024
The Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) seeks to fill the Associate Director - Content, Secondary English Language Arts (ELA). This full-time permanent position is based in Olympia, Washington. This position may be eligible for partial to near full-time telework. Telework is a combination of in-building and off-site days. We encourage interested candidates to visit the OSPI website to gain insight into our agency.
About OSPI and our initiatives
OSPI is the primary agency charged with overseeing public K-12 education in Washington state. Working with the state's 295 public school districts and 7 state-tribal education compact schools, OSPI allocates funding and provides tools, resources, and technical assistance so every student in Washington is provided a high-quality public education.
At OSPI, we recognize that our employees are the key to the success of the agency. We are committed to our work but value the balance with our personal lives. We demonstrate our commitment to employees by providing an environment that stimulates professional growth and values them for their expertise. OSPI is a great place to work and has several initiatives to help create a great working environment, including:

• We support a healthy work/life balance by offering flexible/alternative work schedules and mobile and telework options. (Depending on job duties and work location.)
• We have an Infant at Work Program that is based on long-term values of newborns and infant-parent bonding. Eligible employees who are new parents or legal guardians can bring their infant (six weeks to six months) when returning to work. (Depending on job duties and work location.)
• We value and are actively involved in promoting diversity, equity and inclusion within OSPI by way of cross-divisional, collaborative committee. The focus of the committee includes employee engagement and education; reinforcing OSPI values; and maximizing the value of diversity and identifying strategies for inclusion.

Vision, Mission, and ValuesVision: All students prepared for post-secondary pathways, careers, and civic engagement.
Mission: Transform K-12 education to a system that is centered on closing opportunity gaps and is characterized by high expectations for all students and educators. We achieve this by developing equity-based policies and supports that empower educators, families, and communities.
Values: Ensuring Equity, Collaboration and Service, Achieving Excellence through Continuous Improvement, Focus on the Whole Child
Equity
Each student, family, and community possesses strengths and cultural knowledge that benefits their peers, educators, and schools. Ensuring educational equity:

• Goes beyond equality; it requires education leaders to examine the ways current policies and practices result in disparate outcomes for our students of color, students living in poverty, students receiving special education and English Learner services, students who identify as LGBTQ+, and highly mobile student populations.
• Requires education leaders to develop an understanding of historical contexts; engage students, families, and community representatives as partners in decision-making; and actively dismantle systemic barriers, replacing them with policies and practices that ensure all students have access to the instruction and support they need to succeed in our schools.

Position Overview
The primary responsibility of the Associate Director - Content, Secondary ELA is to provide leadership, guidance, technical assistance, professional and resource development for the state's secondary education system for English Language Arts. This position is responsible for program management of Secondary ELA, which is a requirement in K-12 schools' curriculum with state adopted learning standards and are a part of Washington student graduation requirements. This position will build and implement a work plan that makes progress on strategic goals for the agency including:

• Learner-Centered Options in Every Community, providing all students with access to challenging coursework, culturally responsive and anti-racist curriculum, and pathways to graduation and beyond that meet their unique interests.

This position will support the agency's anti-racist objectives; participate and engage in changing systems and delivering proactive guidance focused on breaking down and removing barriers to those we serve.
Key ResponsibilitiesProvides statewide leadership and support for ELA in the following:
Program Leadership

• Proactively identify areas of improvement within systems and processes to support closing opportunity gaps, aligning with the agency's antiracist objectives and meeting or exceeding compliance requirements to mitigate the agency's exposure to risks.
• Maintains the highest standard of personal, professional, and ethical conduct; and supports the goals for diversity and inclusion.
• Cultivate partnerships between both internal and external stakeholders to further the development of the K-12 education systems to enable continuous improvement.
• Provide leadership and implementation support of ELA initiatives to support foundational access to learning for ELA.
• Develop and lead statewide initiatives and professional development opportunities based on Local Education Agency and school needs to support implementation of ELA standards, effective instructional practices in ELA based on current research, instructional assessment, and grading policies and progress, including best practices for supporting students with disabilities, English learners, migrant, highly capable students, and students eligible for learning assistance.
• Provide instructional material guidance and professional learning that supports district adoption of bias-free standard-aligned curriculum and materials, increasing the confidence and capacity of schools, educators, families, and stakeholders to create culturally responsive and anti-racist educational communities.
• Recommend and inform state level policies for legislative bills and procedures impacting secondary ELA implementation; collaborate with OSPI Professional Certification, the Professional Educator Standards Board (PESB), and the State Board of Education (SBE). Provide testimony and bill analysis for legislative bills as needed.
• Overall project planning and oversight for major bodies of work that identify key activities and projects, anticipated timelines, major administrative components (e.g., grants, contracts) and key communications necessary (regular meetings of stakeholders and or executive briefings).

Learning Standards

• Oversee the statewide development, revision, and implementation of support systems for ELA area state learning standards/guidelines; including cross-content collaborations and development and identification of professional learning and technical assistance supports.
• Provide leadership for building statewide capacity for implementation of the state ELA learning standards, curriculum planning and development, graduation requirements, teacher endorsements and instructional best practices.
• Support the review, revision, development and/or implementation of state content standards; models of instructional practice; instructional materials and resources; research, evaluation, and reporting; and professional learning that will enable schools to support student growth and ensure that graduates are prepared for postsecondary success.
• Collaborate with staff in Elementary Education and across the SEPP division to provide vertical alignment and support of academic standards, instructional materials, and professional learning opportunities in support of students and educators.
• Support the development and dissemination of ELA resources for Local Education Agencies and teachers with a focus on resources related to ELA development.

Assessment, Communication, Data Analysis & Reporting

• Serve as a content advisor and/or leader for ELA with assessment system supports and system-wide education policy issues, content related matters with partners such as State Board of Education (SBE) and the Professional Educator Standards Board (PESB) and develop and support implementation of content-related guidance, policies, and assessment system and support.
• Write and edit responses to queries and develop resources related to ELA education, curriculum, instruction, and formative and summative assessment in Washington.
• Manage a complex set of initiatives from policy creation to implementation in a timely manner.
• Develop policy, budget proposals and analysis of proposed legislation.
• Use OSPI data to inform policy and programmatic continuous improvement in service to ELA educators and students.
• Maintain, revise, and develop content area web pages, resources, and regular statewide communications.
• Provide timey response to constituent email and executive correspondence.
• Identify which key program activities necessitate systemic statewide communication through an OSPI bulletin, memorandum (as per annual work plan) and process these in accordance with agency timelines and processes.
• Complete project reports and briefings as requested and identified in work/project plans.
• Complete legislative reports, proviso, bill analysis, and an annual work plan within established timeline.

Collaboration and Partnerships

• Establish and maintain direct liaison support and agency representation with key content-specific national and state education associations and agencies, as well as specific departments within OSPI identified as key collaborators, (e.g., Educational Service Districts, state and national educational professional organizations) necessary to accomplish the position expectations.
• Collaborate with internal and external partners on data analysis, management, and reporting for state and federal reports, accountability, and legal compliance.
• Participate in advisory committees and workgroups for program planning and oversight per legislative directive.
• Demonstrate and promote individual and group interpersonal skills including but not limited to listening for understanding, influencing, mediation, consensus building and collaboration.
• Contribute to a workplace that is fair, safe, professional, and free from discrimination or harassment.
• Foster and supports the organizations diversity goals by:
  1. Maintaining the highest standard of personal, professional, and ethical conduct.
  2. Researching, developing, recommending, and executing creative strategies to evaluate and improve systems and processes through an equity lens, aligned with the organization's diversity goals and antiracist objectives.
• Diversity, equity, and inclusion must be embedded into the work and goals of each employee, both in what work is done and how.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in English or education, educational administration, or related area.
• A minimum of four (4) years of K-12 experience in ELA as a teacher and/or within the educational system in a position with related skills or tasks.
• A combination of education and related professional work experience may be considered year for year.
• Demonstrated commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion and commitment to provide public sector leadership around the agency's anti-racist objectives.
• Demonstrated good judgment and empathy in order to communicate and collaborate across cultures effectively.
• Demonstrated ability to use critical thinking skills to address and resolve complex, unprecedented issues.
• Experience writing and developing curriculum, instructional resources, or professional development modules related to Math, assessment, graduation requirements or relative educational topics.
• Knowledge of:

1. Current research, procedures and best practices in K-12 content area education, including curriculum,
2. program evaluation, assessment for classroom and large-scale applications,
3. Sound management practices, professional staff development, program planning, individual and
4. group decision making strategies.
5. Relevant state government, laws, and legislative process

Desired Qualifications:

• Master's degree or higher in area related to (ELA/education, educational administration or

related area)

• Experience teaching ELA in a formal secondary education system.
• Experience with relevant state government, laws, and legislative processes.
• Experience working in a diverse school setting.
• Experience in developing instructional resources, utilizing the Washington State Learning Standards for ELA
• Broad practical experience in leadership, personnel management, collaborative problem solving and conflict management.
• Ability to provide long and short-term strategic planning and program development goals.
• Experience with data analysis and reporting.

Compensation
The annual compensation for the position is $79,864 - $97,806 per year and depends upon experience, educational background and qualifications. Geographic differentials may be applied based on work location of successful candidate. Washington State offers a generous benefit package including health, dental and life insurance, retirement and an optional deferred compensation program. Please visit Health Car...