Reading Specialist & Literacy Coach

The Reading Specialist & Literacy Coach provides leadership, professional learning, and coaching support to continuously improve literacy instruction and intervention throughout the school. The Reading Specialist & Literacy Coach will oversee the school's literacy instructional program and the school's compliance with Virginia Literacy Act requirements of professional learning for teachers and student reading plans for children.

Required Qualifications

Certificates & Licenses :

• Valid Virginia Department of Education license required, or eligibility to obtain one.
• VDOE Reading Specialist Endorsement

Education: Bachelor's degree in Elementary Education, Master's degree preferred.

Experience:

• A minimum of three to five years of successful teaching experience.
• Knowledge of current research in instructional coaching, curriculum trends in instruction, teacher effectiveness, differentiated instruction, student learning, and best practices in instruction.
• Knowledge of a variety of literacy assessments and familiarity with state assessments.

Additional Required Training:

• Have training in the identification of and the appropriate interventions, accommodations, and teaching techniques for students with dyslexia or a related disorder (addressed in VLP Canvas course).
• Completion of VDOE/Virginia Literacy Partnerships (VLP) Canvas course in science-based reading research and evidence-based literacy instruction practices.

Essential Functions

Literacy Leadership

The Lead Reading Specialist will lead school's VLA (Virginia Literacy Act) Implementation Team in implementing the requirements of the Virginia Literacy Act:

Tier 1 Instruction

• Facilitates and supports teachers' skilled use of division-adopted VDOE-approved core and supplemental evidence-based literacy resources.
• Provides guidance and feedback to support school personnel's continuous improvement of evidence-based literacy instructional practices.
• Facilitates the consistent use of effective literacy strategies by supporting teachers through co-planning, co-teaching, modeling, demonstration sessions, reflecting, and focused classroom observations.
• Collaborates with teachers, both individually and in small groups, to analyze student work, reflect on instructional delivery, evaluate lessons and differentiate instruction accordingly.
• Facilitates the analysis and interpretation of formative and summative literacy data and continuous improvement process school-wide.

Intervention Services

• Coordinates and/or provides intervention services for students not meeting literacy benchmarks.
• Develops, oversees implementation of, and monitors student progress on school's student reading plans, in collaboration with teachers and families.
• Assists administrative and instructional staff in analyzing and interpreting data and designing, implementing, and evaluating interventions to improve student achievement.
• Supports collaboration among teachers (general education, special education, and English Language Learning teachers) and administrators to develop and provide differentiated support in which teachers set student achievement related to growth in reading that are pedagogically-based and data-driven.

Professional Learning

• Oversees school's compliance with teacher professional learning training requirements.
• Facilitates ongoing professional learning for educators in large-group, small-group, and one-on-one settings.

Other Duties

• Performs other related duties, as assigned, to ensure the efficient and effective functioning of the work unit.

Clearances:

• Criminal Justice Fingerprint/Background Clearance.
• Tuberculosis Skin Test.

Public Health Compliance

• Must follow safety and health protocols.

WP