College and Career Pathway Lead

This position will lead all work within the designated pathway portfolio, including curriculum procurement/creation, managing industry relationships, providing content support to school-based staff and teachers, and the design and implementation of large pathway-wide experiences such as capstones and Team-Based Challenges. The College and Career Pathway Lead will regularly work with external stakeholders including curriculum vendors, pathway industry leaders, and content area experts to ensure all pathway activities align with ISBE’s College and Career Pathway Endorsement, the Illinois PaCe framework, and other nationally recognized indicators of quality programming. This position will report to the Curriculum and Instruction Manager, College and Career Pathways. 

The College and Career Pathway Lead will be held accountable for the following responsibilities:

• Design and integrate industry-validated and -aligned curriculum for all pathways within the assigned portfolio
  • Develop and/or coordinate the development of curriculum by reviewing and revising industry-standards-based content that incorporates college readiness standards, essential employability skills, content-specific competencies, authentic problem- and project-based learning, work-based learning, industry certification, and research-based instructional best practices.
  • Collaborate with teachers, CTE staff, industry, and postsecondary partners to create course standards and skill competencies within each pathway. 
  • Review pathway curriculum and research vendor assessment offerings to provide recommendations to either purchase ready-made content and tailor it to local needs or develop curriculum.
  • Facilitate the acquisition and/or development of instructional materials (e.g., task lists, standardized course syllabi, lesson plans, etc.) 
  • Collaborate with colleagues within CTE and across departments to develop related professional development (PD) for teachers to ensure citywide adoption of standard curriculum; schedule and facilitate PD sessions to meet the needs of participants
  • Coordinate the integration of CTE curriculum into Skyline
• Manage Industry Advisory Councils for all pathways within the assigned portfolio
  • Engage in departmental collaboration to standardize the practices across Industry Advisory Councils and ensure alignment with state and federal requirements
  • Plan, coordinate, and conduct Industry Advisory Council meetings every quarter to ensure all activities offered within the content area align with industry needs and postsecondary pathways 
  • Collaborate with industry and postsecondary partners to align curriculum and ensure it is inclusive of current trends, materials, and equipment
  • Collaborate with the ECCE Work-based Learning (WBL) team and industry partners to integrate career-connected experiences for CTE students into pathway curriculum and activities to better prepare students for their career path
  • Review lab design and standards with industry partners
• Develop strategic and annual implementation plans to build and continuously improve upon high-quality CTE programs for all pathways in the assigned portfolio
• Conduct regular program evaluations to measure program effectiveness, gain impactful insights, and use data to drive program enhancements to support improved student outcomes
• Review lab design and standards with industry partners 
  • • Create regular (quarterly) professional development opportunities for CTE teachers around best practices, instructional strategies, technical and employability skills, and other pathway-relevant, content-focused topics.
    • Engage in cross-departmental collaboration to deepen CTE engagement and effectively serve the needs of the whole student. 
    • Design and implement at least two Team-Based Challenges annually for all designated pathways.
    • Deepen the integration of industry-recognized certifications (building related systems and support structures for teachers), work-based learning, and early college courses into the assigned pathways, including the systemization of the collection of related student outcome data
    • Coordinate with Leadership, schools, Networks, and school-based ECCE staff to design strategies to increase CTE program quality in alignment with state and national frameworks. 
  • Other duties and workstreams as assigned

• Develop strategic and annual implementation plans to build and continuously improve upon high-quality CTE programs for all pathways in the assigned portfolio
• Conduct regular program evaluations to measure program effectiveness, gain impactful insights, and use data to drive program enhancements to support improved student outcomes
• Create regular (quarterly) professional development opportunities for CTE teachers around best practices, instructional strategies, technical and employability skills, and other pathway-relevant, content-focused topics.
• Engage in cross-departmental collaboration to deepen CTE engagement and effectively serve the needs of the whole student. 
• Design and implement at least two Team-Based Challenges annually for all designated pathways.
• Deepen the integration of industry-recognized certifications (building related systems and support structures for teachers), work-based learning, and early college courses into the assigned pathways, including the systemization of the collection of related student outcome data
• Coordinate with Leadership, schools, Networks, and school-based ECCE staff to design strategies to increase CTE program quality in alignment with state and national frameworks. 
• Other duties and workstreams as assigned

In order to be successful and achieve the above responsibilities, the College and Career Pathway Lead must possess the following qualifications:

Education Required:

• Bachelor's degree in education, social sciences, business, public policy, or related field from an accredited college or university is required
• Valid Professional Educator License (PEL) or other CTE licensure issued by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) with appropriate content and/or grade-level endorsement(s) is preferred
• Master’s degree preferred

Experience Required:

• Minimum of five (5) years of professional, full-time experience either as a classroom teacher, or in a related, industry-specific role responsible for leading quality educational programs within one or more College & Career/CTE content area(s), including the following, is required:
• Experience working with adult learners, including developing and facilitating professional learning opportunities to meet the needs of participants
• Experience supporting or facilitating curriculum planning, design, and/or development
• Experience in Career and Technical Education (CTE), whether in a classroom teaching capacity and/or leading the administration of CTE programs in an urban or peri-urban environment is preferred. 
• Experience in a large organization, managing complex projects requiring significant cross-functional collaboration is preferred. 

Other Requirements:

• Knowledge of CTE, including employment trends and/or educational best practices, preferred

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Strong research skills in conjunction with the ability to review and develop curriculum materials 
• Strong presentation skills, including the ability to present instructional pedagogy for team development 
• Practical understanding of urban high schools and the urban district setting for school improvement.
• Strong financial management and reporting skills; knowledge of operations, budget/finance, management and organizational development
• Ability and willingness to learn and adapt in the midst of new and shifting priorities with a ‘can-do,’ solutions-oriented approach to problem-solving
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills 
• Ability to define problems, analyze data, and outline valid conclusions and action steps
• Strong organizational, time, and project management skills, including the ability to coordinate multiple projects and collaborate with various stakeholders simultaneously to complete time-sensitive projects while maintaining high levels of attention to detail and meeting expectations
• Ability to build trusting relationships with multiple constituencies, including internal and external partners, and to function effectively at the school, central office, or network level, as well as with external partners in business, postsecondary, and government
• Skilled in the use of technology, computers, and various software/systems 

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.