Training Specialist, Teach Chicago Tomorrow

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is one of the largest school districts in the United States, serving over 320,000 students in 600+ schools and employing approximately 40,000 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.

With partners across the city, CPS Talent Office has launched the Teach Chicago Tomorrow, an initiative that serves as a key lever to support schools in the district to accomplish the following goals:

• Expand new teacher pipelines into CPS classrooms.
• Improve Day One Readiness of new teachers.
• Ensure equity in students’ access to high quality teachers.
• Support teacher recognition, leadership and retention.
• Build diversity now for long-term change.

Teach Chicago Tomorrow is a 4-year program in partnership with City Colleges of Chicago and various 4 year universities that supports enrollment and persistence of graduating CPS seniors pursuing a Bachelor's degree and career in teaching.

Job Summary:

Reporting to the Teach Chicago Tomorrow Program Manager, the Training Specialist of Teach Chicago Tomorrow supports Teach Chicago Tomorrow in creating and delivering robust professional development and learning experiences that help to develop knowledge and theory in educational equity, best practices in the field and standards of professionalism for pre-service teachers.

The Training Specialist, Teach Chicago Tomorrow will be held accountable for the following responsibilities:

• Contribute to the design of a professional development scope and sequence for Teach Chicago Tomorrow Program.

• Oversee Scholar’s progress in the program, including (1) monitoring if they are academically in good standing (2) ensuring they are signed up for One Million Degrees and (3) collaborating with partners to oversee progress of students on support and improvement plans for scholars facing challenges or at risk for program removal.
• Design integrated professional development, coursework sequence and student supports throughout the length of the program in collaboration with university partners and other internal/external partners and key stakeholders.
• Infuse cultural competency measures with pedagogical instruction for a well-rounded training experience for program participants.
• Coordinate the TCT scholar field experience and student teaching placement processes in order to match scholars to the best possible learning environment for them and to ensure equitable placement and distribution of training resources.
• Create and execute a hiring plan for TCT scholars to ensure every matriculating scholar effectively receives an offer to become a lead classroom teacher.
• Facilitate subcommittee meetings related to student support, progress and monitoring, helping team members, program partners and stakeholders identify key steps and progressive milestones for serving scholars.

• Build strong relationships with program scholars candidates, their mentors and training site principals. Deploy a wide variety of training methods to support diverse learning and processing styles.
• Coordinate summer internship program experiences for TCT scholars, including identifying and onboarding partner sites, obtaining eligibility information from the program recruiter and university partners and outlining internship application processes for scholars.
• Other duties, as assigned.

In order to be successful and achieve the above responsibilities, the Training Specialist, Teach Chicago Tomorrow must possess the following qualifications:

Education Required:

• Bachelor's Degree from an accredited institution in Education or a closely related field.

Experience Required:

• Minimum of three (3) years professional training experience, including service as a classroom teacher

Other requirements:

• Access to reliable transportation to travel between work sites is required

• Valid Driver’s License and vehicle access preferred

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Substantial experience in urban education environments with a proven track record of student achievement.
• Experience designing and/or leading professional development for teachers.
• Experience coaching, observing and/or providing formal feedback to teachers, including peers.
• Strong service and support orientation towards schools and school communities.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills.
• Strong interpersonal skills with a positive demeanor, growth mindset and collaborative orientation.
• Excellent coordination and time management skills.
• Demonstrated success working in a fast-paced, rapidly changing environment.
• Ability to transform educational research into deliverable content and support and practice tools.
• A high degree of cultural competence and experience in cross-cultural communication.
• Must be able to travel to various locations around the city and work flexible hours, including evening hours and occasional weekends.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office/Google Suite, specifically Excel/Sheets, PowerPoint, Word/Docs.

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.