Position: Elementary School Director of Special Education (2021-22 Opportunity)

Location: Boston, MA (Hyde Park Campus)

Start date: July, 2021

Match Charter Public School is a free, high-performing charter public school in Boston. We are a PreK-12 school serving 1,250 students. Our mission is to prepare students for success in college and careers in order to achieve economic security and mobility. Students gain acceptance to our schools via an annual blind public lottery open to all Boston residents.

Our families bring amazing racial and cultural diversity to the school community - they represent over 20 different countries of origin with over 20 different languages spoken at home. 94% of our students are people of color. Our students bring a diversity of needs to our school, and we are prepared to serve them. 21% of our students qualify for special education services; 30% of our student body are English Language Learners.

We know that the largest driver of our success is the people who work in our schools every day. Match teachers and staff have an immediate impact on our ability to achieve our mission and change the lives of our students. We strive to attract, develop, and retain a team that is diverse by race, ethnicity, culture, income background, gender, sexual identity, and a variety of other factors. See our statement on diversity here.

OVERVIEW OF ROLE

We are seeking a Director of Special Education at our elementary school, Match Community Day, (MCD), for the 2021-22 school year. This position is located at our elementary school campus on 100 Poydras St. in Hyde Park. The Director of Special Education is responsible for ensuring the overall quality of the MCD special education program. The Director of Special Education supervises and supports our schools special education team, and consults with core academic teachers, and other administrators. This position reports directly to the Principal.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Supervision and Development of Special Education Team Members

Supervise special education staff, conduct observations and provide feedback on instruction and lesson planning weekly.

Supervise specialists (O.T., S.L.P., School Psychologist, and consultants), conduct observations and provide feedback.

Conduct annual performance meetings and complete contracts for the upcoming year.

Ensure special education teachers and specialists complete their portions of evaluations, IEPs, IEP meetings, progress notes on time and to a high level of quality, and attend transition meetings.

Interview and hire special education teachers, specialists, and aides in collaboration with the Principal.

Supervision and Development of the MCD Special Education Program

Supervise and monitor special education evaluations, report-writing and IEP development. Ensure IEPs are consistently high quality and all deadlines are met. A portion of IEP writing will be assigned to special education teachers.

Ensure thorough progress notes with report cards are sent home to parents and filed in the running record.

Ensure the file system of all of our students IEPs, academic testing records, behavior plans, modifications, standardized test scores and meeting minutes is current and in compliance with state and federal regulations.

Ensure incoming students suspected to have a disability and three year re-evaluations of students with IEPs are assessed properly.

Use data to inform program decisions (ensure staff collect and input data).

Enhance staffs understanding of students special needs by leading professional development in August and consulting with team members on a regular basis. Improve understanding and practice in regard to autism, intellectual disabilities, and trauma-related needs.

Budgeting and ordering of assessments and materials

Constantly look for opportunities to deliver services in a manner that maximizes existing resources.

Conduct needs-based assessment and inventory of assessment tools.

Make research-based decisions regarding assessments to administer for special education evaluations

Develop guidelines regarding test batteries for initial evaluations and 3-year re-evaluations.

Work with school leaders to track monthly special education expenses and create the annual budget.

Compliance and Regulations procedures and protocols

Ensure organizational systems meet state and federal compliance standards.

Develop/Supervise procedures for progress monitoring.

Parent Education

Provide parents with information regarding the special education process.

Lead or support Special Education Parent Advocacy Committee meetings with special education teachers and school leadership.

Coach special education teachers on parent communication and meeting facilitation to ensure parents feel respected, included, and informed. Meetings include Student Support (referral), IEP, and Special Education Parent Advocacy Committee meetings.

QUALIFICATIONS

Qualified applicants for this position will have:

A strong track record of success and student achievement for special education students.

At least 4 years of experience teaching, teacher coaching and/or in student support.

A Masters Degree in Special Education, or related field, strongly preferred.

Hold a valid and appropriate licensure issued by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, or obtain the licensure within one year of date of hire;

Detail oriented and highly organized with strong analytical writing skills.

Strong knowledge of intervention strategies

ABOUT MATCH EDUCATION

Match Education (www.matcheducation.org) is the shared brand name of The Match Charter Public School, The Match School Foundation, Inc., and The Sposato Graduate School of Education.

Match Education is an engine of discovery and applied innovation in education. We operate high-performing urban public charter schools and a unique graduate school of education that trains teachers for high-poverty schools. Out of this applied work, we refine, validate empirically, and eventually disseminate new ideas and practices on core questions in education reform.

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