Job description
Ignite! Reading teaches kids to read.
Today, 67% of students and 82% of low-income students can't read at grade level by the end of third grade. That's when you are supposed to go from learning to read to reading to learn. It's America's number one education crisis and we know how to fix it.
Ignite teaches kids to read by providing 15 minutes a day of 1:1 virtual reading instruction. We focus on the reading fundamentals (letters, phonics, and sight words) kids need to master so they can decode a sentence. Our program accelerates reading progress 2.4x and we are disrupting how schools think about reading instruction.
Ignite launched our first school implementation in the fall of 2021. Sixteen months later, we will have grown our number of schools and students 35x.
Ignite! Reading is a mission-driven public benefit corporation. We believe we can do well for our team members and shareholders while we solve one of the nation's biggest challenges. We believe we will be more successful with a diverse team and are seeking candidates who have lived experience related to social justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Your Role
Working in close collaboration with the Ignite! Reading team, and reporting to the Senior Manager of Literacy and Instruction, the Literacy Specialist is responsible for ensuring the instructional growth of students within their school partner portfolio. Additionally, the Literacy Specialist works closely with Tutor Operations to support the quality of instruction and development of key instructional tools. This person will support the design, execution, professional learning, coaching, and the Ignite! Reading program as a whole.
Key Responsibilities
- Use the Science of Reading to understand our core curriculum and develop tools to support instruction and student strengths, weaknesses, in foundational skills
- Support with the maintenance and the creation of all aligned tutor materials
- As required and where appropriate, lead professional learning sessions
- Support with the development of resources that comprise the Ignite curriculum, which is grounded in DI; determine ways in which DI may need to evolve to further support Ignite's mission; create necessary resources and collateral
- Model and reinforce the values and culture of Ignite in all internal and external interactions; build trusting relationships with strategic partners
- Partner led meetings, partner priorities, etc.
- Support with the creation and development of processes and tools to support the effectiveness of the Ignite program; notice where needs exist and exhibit initiative in tackling those needs in order to keep the program moving forward; consider ways to work cross functionally with other members of the Ignite team to ensure innovative solutions are codified
- Data Analysis for students
- Be flexible and ready to wear many hats
Core Competencies
- Ethics & Integrity: Behave in a fair and ethical manner towards peers, partners, tutors, and children; instill mutual trust and confidence; act with honesty and integrity.
- Planning/Organizing/Goal Setting: Demonstrate the ability to organize people and tasks; develop realistic action plans while being sensitive to time constraints and resource availability; define realistic, specific goals and objectives; prioritize objectives.
- Teamwork and Collaboration: Work with colleagues to build morale and team commitment to goals and objectives.
- Diversity: Understand that each individual is unique and celebrate individual differences including race/ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, mental or physical (dis)ability, marital status, veteran status, education, training, position, level of authority, seniority, full-time or part-time status.
- Collaboration: Cultivate a positive partner and customer service relationship; foster two-way communication; deliver experiences that exceed stakeholders' expectations.
- Continuous Improvement: Continuously seek opportunities for innovative approaches to address organizational opportunities.
- Solution-Oriented: Exhibit initiative; take action in solving problems; positive attitude focused on collaboration and team problem solving.
Job Qualifications
- 3+ years of classroom experience teaching literacy
- 3+ years of experience identifying instructional gaps and sharing recommendations
- Understanding of the importance of the Science of Reading (SOR) and willingness to become deeply knowledgeable about SOR.
- Exceptional attention to detail and ability to straddle multiple strategic projects while also dipping into the nuts and bolts of the work (i.e., teaching children to read)
- Working knowledge of Google platform
- Ability to learn to train and lead a group of non-educators to understand SOR, to learn Differentiated Instruction (DI), and to implement DI with absolute fidelity
- Strong emotional intelligence and ability to facilitate work with stakeholders, including building relationships in service of the mission of Ignite and Ignite's strategic priorities
- High expectations for what tutors and children can achieve and a relentless commitment to ensuring that Ignite achieves its mission in service of teaching children to read
- Extraordinary communication skills; written, verbal, and interpersonal
- Ability to self-managing and flexible while working in a remote environment
- Nice to haves:
- Multilingual experience
- Experience partnering with schools and/or districts
At Ignite! Reading, we believe in building and fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace environment. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer where all applicants are considered for employment without attention to color, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.
We are seeking candidates who have lived experience related to social justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion. We are a virtual organization with headquarters in the California Bay Area. We offer competitive compensation, equity, and generous benefits packages.