English Learner (EL) Instructional Development Specialist - Biliteracy

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is a district on the rise, serving over 320,000 students in 500+ schools and employing over 44,000 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.
The Office of Language and Cultural Education (OMME) guides CPS in providing a high-quality education for all language learners attentive to a culturally and linguistically diverse community of students, families, and educators. OMME aims to achieve its mission through strategic planning, collaborative partnerships, professional development, and the production of tools and resources to improve instruction. This is a full time exempt position, that will be paid for time worked on a salary basis.

Job Summary:
Reporting to EL Instructional Development Manager, the EL Instructional Development Specialist: Biliteracy is crucial in enhancing and improving the learning experience of English learners (EL) across the district. This position focuses on building capacity among various stakeholders, providing instructional support and professional learning, co-developing and refining biliteracy curriculum, and contributing to developing and implementing high-quality instruction for ELs in grades PreK-12, focusing on literacy development in more than one language.


This Job Will be held accountable for the following responsibilities:

1) Develop and provide professional development in various venues and formats, promoting best biliteracy practices for EL instruction

2) Collaborate with district staff, administrators, and EL Program Teachers to provide comprehensive instructional support to elevate the biliteracy development for English Learners.

3) Research, evaluate, and make recommendations on curricula, instructional methods, assessments, technology, and materials for ELs in both native language and English contexts

4) Contribute to the district's framework for effective EL instruction

5) Develop standard tools and resources demonstrating effective biliteracy practices for ELs across content areas and contexts.

6) Collaborate intra- and interoffice on professional development, district initiatives, resources, and projects.

7) Contribute to biliteracy guidance, resources, and policy to ensure a consistent instructional vision is promoted within and across content areas

8) Maintain content area expertise through staying abreast of current research, practices, and innovation in the field

9) Contribute to the continuous improvement of Skyline through the completion of tasks such as:

• Evaluating professional learning outcome data to inform future professional learning needs
• Identifying, documenting, and offering solutions around barriers to successful implementation through common progress monitoring systems
• Participating in centralized feedback structures to inform curriculum revision

10) Utilize EL data to inform biliterate instructional development:

• Analyze student performance data related to English Learners.
• Identify trends and patterns to inform instructional strategies and interventions in literacy in English and Spanish
• Collaborate with educators to develop targeted approaches for improving EL learning outcomes.

Other duties as assigned

Education Required:

• Master's degree in Education, Bilingual Education, ESL, or a related field of study.
• Illinois Professional Educator Licensure, Bilingual Spanish endorsement.

Experience Required:

• Minimum of 5 years of teaching experience with English Learners or dually identified students
• With preference given to those with experience of teaching literacy in English and/or another language, such as Spanish

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Ability to manage time to produce high-quality deliverables and work in multiple teams
• Ability to present to various stakeholders in more than one language preferred
• Experience in standards-based instructional planning, including backwards mapping from standards to instruction.
• Expertise in the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts and Spanish Language Arts, WIDA ELD and/or SLD Standards.
• Understanding of literacy in content areas as well as first and second language literacy development.
• Proficiency in providing high-quality instruction in native and/or English language.
• Ability to design and implement differentiated instruction to meet the diverse needs of English learners, including those with varying proficiency levels.
• Expertise in planning, designing, facilitating, and evaluating professional learning
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to establish efficient working relationships with colleagues, district and school staff, and community-based organizations.
• Strong problem-solving skills, ability to delegate, and recognition of failures as opportunities for improvement.
• Ability to travel to schools and other locations throughout the district.
• Self-starter with excellent organizational skills; ability to effectively manage several work streams simultaneously.
• Proficiency in various technology tools and software, including Google Suite, Microsoft Office, and CPS applications

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.