Position: Chief of Academics & Schools

Reports To: Superintendent of Schools

Key Responsibilities:

The Chief of Academics and Schools assists the Superintendent in establishing, articulating and supporting the district vision. The Chief of Academics and Schools sets the strategic vision and direction for the instructional framework and the pedagogical approach to CPS’s academic programs and is a key lever to accomplish the district’s strategic goals. The Chief of Academics and Schools is the leader, spokesperson, and resident expert on curriculum, instruction, assessment, pedagogy and learning. The Chief of Academic and Schools develops the short and long term instructional vision for CPS and works to establish a culture of high expectations and shared responsibility for equitable access to high quality and culturally relevant instruction. The Chief of Academics and Schools works to create authentic partnerships between district offices and schools that ensure closer alignment of district resources with school needs, to implement an instructional plan for the district that ensures effective teaching in every classroom and to create conditions that ensure systemic improvement of practice over time in every school and classroom. The Chief of Academics and Schools is committed to fostering equity, inclusion and belonging and acts as a team member in leading the district in becoming an anti-racist school community through a shared vision, aligned goals and courageous conversations.

Equity Leadership and Student Success:

• Cultivate a commitment among all district staff to enable all students to achieve high standards.
• Confront preconceptions and model open dialogue around race, culture, class, ability and other issues of difference.
• Operate with a lens of cultural proficiency, sensitivity, and equity to ensure students’ needs are met.
• Assess the distribution of academic supports with a clear racial equity lens, ensuring allocations provide the best resources to equitably and effectively meet the needs of all CPS’s students, families, and schools.

Instructional Leadership:

• Develop, and implement a compelling vision for the district’s instructional and curriculum services and set a compelling vision and goals for the Academics and Schools Office to ensure rigorous and standards-aligned instruction and instructional support in every classroom, for every CPS student.
• Direct academic service areas (i.e. instructional improvement, curriculum and instruction, professional development, special education services, advanced learner services, English Language Learner services and all other areas of student support).
• Assume leadership role on the Superintendent's Executive Leadership Team (ELT) responsible for assisting with long-range strategic planning, developing system-wide budgets, plans, policies and activities.
• Support informed decision-making by the Superintendent, ELT and senior staff by monitoring and effectively interpreting the latest research, trends and development in all areas of education.
• Deliver written and oral presentations on academic accountability to various stakeholders (i.e. School Committee, principals, educators, parents and community groups).
• Apply research and best practices to inform theories of pedagogy and ensure consistent delivery of high-quality instruction aligned with key standards (i.e. classroom-to-classroom, grade-by-grade, school-by-school).
• Serve as the key spokesperson to the Superintendent and other stakeholder groups regarding educational issues (i.e. attend regular School Committee meetings and sub-committee meetings, staff meetings, and other related meetings).

Instructional Management and Coordinated Services:

• Collaborate with Assistant Superintendents, Executive Directors, Directors, and Coordinators in all academic areas to evaluate existing curriculum programs using both quantitative and qualitative data to determine updates to School Improvement Plans.
• Work collaboratively with cross-departmental teams in Research, Assessment and Accountability, Student Support Services, and Academics and Schools to ensure support of all teachers and the effective delivery of instructional programs and services.
• Collaborate with principals, principal supervisors, and district departments to provide support for a variety of school settings and build school support systems with the necessary resources.
• Collaborate with school systems, community agencies, local universities, and research laboratories to promote shared learning.

Continuous Improvement for School Support:

• Establish direction for school improvement efforts by monitoring the progress of school performance, student achievement objectives and academic excellence indicators to align strategies for school improvement.
• Create the conditions that enable all educators to provide rigorous, authentic, and personalized experiences for all students, particularly historically underserved populations.
• Collaborate with schools to develop instructional programs and to implement improvement models designed to improve achievement of all students; develop a two-way feedback loop from school sites to the Academics and Schools Department.
• Create opportunities for teachers to reflect on their practice while engaging in the systemic improvement of practice over time in every classroom.
• Strategically manage and allocate resources (including money, people, time, etc.) aligned to students’ needs.

Talent Management and Professional Learning:

• Build and lead a highly effective, innovative academic services department that is assessed on the ability to continually improve instructional practices.
• Support staff to develop, implement, and evaluate project plans and strategy to achieve goals and objectives.
• Build the capacity of teachers and leaders to implement inclusive practices for students with special needs.
• Provide input on professional development activities for CPS by partnering with central office to create district-wide professional development programs, ensuring a robust, systemic approach that meets student needs.
• Ensure that initiatives for school leaders and school teams are coordinated and integrate both academic content and instructional strategies (e.g. Universal Design for Learning, culturally and linguistically relevant pedagogy).
• Monitor the coordination of all district professional development efforts and the implementation of new and existing educational programs using Professional Learning Communities (PLC’s) as a vehicle to provide staff support.

Professionalism:

• Upholds and enforces district policies, administrative procedures and district rules and regulations.
• Actively seek out and attend approved local and national professional meetings, conferences and institutes to keep abreast of current research, trends, and practices in education.
• Maintains appropriate work habits, including regular and punctual attendance, and maintains appropriate relationships with other staff and leaders.
• Strives to communicate the positive aspects of CPS to the public in word and deed.
• Thoughtfully and actively represent the district as an effective, approachable, and responsive leader.
• Attends and participates in council, board and committee meetings as required.

Key Competencies:

The ideal candidate will demonstrate the following:

Vision and Courage to Ensure All Students Achieve:

• Demonstrates belief and holds self and others accountable for reaching high academic achievement of all students.
• Secures buy-in for a clear and compelling instructional vision.
• Comfortable addressing matters of equity, race, and bias in decision-making.

Teaching and Learning Knowledge and Expertise:

• Demonstrate ability to develop and deliver programming that drives improved academic performance for all students.
• Understand and implement promising, innovative and effective instructional practices and models.
• Demonstrate knowledge of federal and state regulations and compliance related to students with special needs.
• An expert in the field of teaching and learning, can work independently to lead the academic vision for CPS.
• A proven record of effectively planning, organizing and using resources and systems to provide high-quality professional learning and leadership development on teaching and learning.

Influence and Leadership:

• Demonstrate leadership presence that gains the confidence of others.
• Comfortable pushing a group’s thinking and challenging ideas to enable better decisions.
• Skillfully navigate political structures, relationships, and dynamics to improve results for students.
• Actively listen to others, understand nuance, and effectively interpret motivations/perceptions. Able to integrate feedback from others to achieve better results.
• Communicates effectively, tailoring messages for the audience, context, and mode of communication.
• Build positive relationships and coalitions. Maintain visibility and work collaboratively with diverse stakeholders at all levels (i.e. district staff, students, families, communities, advocacy groups, etc.)

Strategic Planning and Effective Execution:

• Proactively offer innovative solutions to seemingly intractable problems.
• Demonstrate critical thinking skills and the ability to analyze data, identify trends, and diagnose root causes.
• Exhibit a strong focus on goals and results. Sets clear metrics for success.
• Demonstrates excellent project management skills, including close attention to detail, ability to balance the big picture with detailed steps to reach the end goal, and ability to balance multiple projects under tight deadlines.
• Continuously monitors progress and demonstrates persistence to overcome obstacles to achieve goals.

Effective Change Management:

• Ability to develop and execute approaches to preparing and supporting individuals, teams and the organization in making systemic improvements district wide.
• Ability to use methods that redirect or redefine the use of resources, processes, budget allocation, or other modes of operation that significantly shift/change an organization.
• Create an environment that encourages systemic improvement of practice over time.
• Use a structured approach to ensure changes are implemented successfully to support sustainable change at scale.

Team Leadership and Management:

• Build and lead effective teams to achieve ambitious goals.
• Assess team and individual skills, identifies development needs, and provides feedback and support to improve practice, build capacity, and maximize talent.
• Promote professional learning and utilize effective adult learning techniques.
• Lead team to collaborate with other departments, teams, and stakeholders.

Perform all other duties as assigned.

Qualifications:

• A Master’s degree required, Doctorate degree in curriculum and instruction or other related field, strongly preferred.
• Minimum of three (3) years of successful administrative experience in educational leadership or other related field in a K-12 public or private school setting; five (5) years preferred.
• Successful track record of working in an urban setting with staff, students and families from diverse racial, ethnic, linguistic and socio-economic backgrounds.
• Strong ability to oversee, monitor, and manage complex educational issues.
• Familiarity with the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education curriculum frameworks and resources.
• Strong public presentation and communication skills to represent the District in both oral and written reports;
• A level-headed attitude under pressure and ability to acclimate to changing work environments;
• Ability to model collaboration and professionalism towards all.

Cambridge Public Schools is committed to slowing and/or stopping the spread of COVID-19. Therefore, as a condition of employment with Cambridge Public Schools, all new hires will be required to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 no later than their first day of work.

Work Year: 225 Days

Salary: $189,123.18 - $224,618.53

How to Join Our Team:

Please upload a resume and thoughtful cover letter, outlining how your skills, experience, and commitment to equity in education meet the qualifications of the position as well as stating how you heard about this opportunity.

The Cambridge Public Schools is committed to cultivating an environment where diverse perspectives and backgrounds are embraced, acknowledging that a team reflecting diversity of race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion, age, gender, marital/domestic partner status, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability status, and veteran status allows us to serve our communities better. To that end, we welcome and encourage applicants to bring their authentic selves when considering employment opportunities within our school district.