Senior Director, Seattle Teacher Residency

Job Title:                            Senior Director, Seattle Teacher Residency
Organization:                    Alliance for Education
Classification:                   Regular, full-time, exempt
Reports To:                        Vice President of Impact
Location:                            Hybrid
 
**The Alliance is a flexible workplace. This role will have in-office and on-location work required; the person in this role will also be able to do some of their work remotely.**

About the Alliance for Education
The Alliance for Education is an independent, non-profit organization with a mission to support excellence in education by advancing educational justice and racial equity for students in Seattle Public Schools. The Alliance team raises funds, implements programs, and convenes stakeholders in support of that mission, and is the only local education fund supporting the students and educators of Seattle’s public education system. Founded in 1995, the Alliance’s vision is a deeply invested community that collectively ensures all students in Seattle Public Schools experience a sense of belonging, receive an excellent and equitable education, and reach their fullest potential.

About the Alliance for Education’s Impact
The Alliance for Education’s impact is catalyzed by our programs and our convening work. Our programs are strategies led by Alliance staff in support of Seattle Public Schools aligned with our mission to advance racial equity and educational justice. These programs operate in partnership with Seattle Public Schools and other community partners. They currently include: the Seattle Teacher Residency, a teacher preparation program designed to address the teacher shortage, teacher diversity and teacher retention challenges in urban education by recruiting, training, placing and supporting a diverse group of highly qualified teachers to serve in Seattle’s Title I elementary schools (see below for additional detail), and the Right Now Needs Fund, a fund designed to address the basic needs of students throughout the Seattle Public School system by offering financial resources to all 106 Seattle public schools. Our convening work brings together K12 stakeholders from across the region to collaborate on and invest in promising strategies to advance racial equity and educational justice. This work includes our philanthropic convening in support of efforts like the Office of African American Male Achievement in Seattle Public Schools, the district’s first-ever office leveraging a targeted universalism strategy to invest in the success of Black male students. All of our work is fueled by strong community partnerships, and our capacity to communicate the opportunities and challenges facing Seattle Public School students in order to better engage the community on their behalf. Our impact is constantly growing and evolving, reflecting our learning, student experience, the district landscape, and evolving needs and innovations in the K12 space.

We Encourage You to Apply
At the Alliance for Education, we know that a diverse and inclusive workforce makes us a better, more effective, more equitable organization. As we strive continually to be that organization, we encourage people from all backgrounds, ages, abilities, and experiences to apply for this role.

Studies have shown that Black, Indigenous, People of Color, women, trans, & non-binary folks are less likely to apply for positions unless they believe they meet every single qualification as described in a position description. We recognize that qualified candidates can have backgrounds less traditional to our field of work, and that’s okay. We strongly encourage you to apply, even if you don’t believe you meet every one of the qualifications described.

About the Seattle Teacher Residency
Founded in 2011, the Seattle Teacher Residency (STR) is an innovative teacher preparation program offering aspiring teachers a route to become exceptional and equity-focused educators in Seattle Public Schools, with a particular emphasis on diversifying the teacher workforce and preparing teachers to best serve students furthest from educational justice. With more than a decade of successful outcomes in Seattle and national recognition for innovation and efficacy, the Seattle Teacher Residency has graduated more than 230 educators. This innovative program and partnership develops a growing pipeline of teachers who reflect the diversity of the students they teach. On average, over 50% of Seattle Teacher Residency graduates identify as people of color, as compared to the district average of ~20%.
STR prepares teachers with a strategic combination of a yearlong clinical classroom experience in a Title 1 SPS elementary school, an intensive apprenticeship with a skilled SPS mentor teacher, and master’s level coursework at the University of Washington’s College of Education. The residency model is centered in preparing graduates to teach in Seattle public elementary schools, and particularly in those school communities most impacted by poverty. Upon graduation from the 14-month program, residents earn a Master in Teaching from the UW College of Education, a teaching certificate, and a guaranteed contingency contract to teach in Seattle Public Schools. Graduates also commit to teaching for a minimum of five years in Seattle Public Schools classrooms. STR graduates have consistently been retained in Seattle Public Schools at a rate of 81% after teaching 3 or more years.

STR is a unique partnership between the Alliance for Education (AFE), Seattle Public Schools (SPS), the University of Washington College of Education (UWCOE), and the Seattle Education Association (SEA). The Alliance for Education provides oversight for the Seattle Teacher Residency, selects and supports the Senior Director, raises and manages all funds for the Residency budget, and provides HR, finance, communications and other supports to the program. Multiple departments at Seattle Public Schools collaborate with STR and support the alignment of resident experience and instruction with SPS strategy and curricula. The SPS HR team supports placement of residents in mentor classrooms, and placement of graduates in their own classrooms. The University of Washington College of Education provides instruction and curriculum for residency participants, and allows STR to stay connected to best practices within higher education. The Seattle Education Association supports advocacy for district and union engagement in teacher preparation, fund-raising, and community convening. More information about the Seattle Teacher Residency collaborative structure can be found here: www.seattleteacherresidency.org

Senior Director Position Summary:
The Senior Director of the Seattle Teacher Residency (STR) is a leadership role at the Alliance for Education, in charge of strategic vision, design, implementation, management, collaboration and scale of the STR Program. The Senior Director position serves as part of the extended leadership team at the Alliance, and as such, plays a leadership role in defining and strengthening organizational culture, alongside other members of the Alliance’s leadership team. This role reports to the Vice President of Impact.
Given the partnership inherent in the structure of the Seattle Teacher Residency, the Senior Director works in close partnership with leaders at Seattle Public Schools, the Seattle Education Association, and the University of Washington College of Education, as well as stakeholders from across the community. This collaboration ensures alignment, drives effective program implementation and improvement, and maximizes program impact.  Building and maintaining collaborative, solution-oriented relationships with residency stakeholders is an essential aspect of the Senior Director’s role.

Responsibilities:
The Senior Director leads the Seattle Teacher Residency program. Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

Programmatic Leadership:
Set program goals and drive program implementation and improvement based on best practices, with a focus on preparing future teachers to effectively educate Seattle students furthest from educational justice and in schools significantly impacted by poverty
Lead the design and implementation of the residency experience to ensure an impactful, positive and equitable educational experience, relevant and anti-racist preparation for teaching in Seattle’s Title I schools, and effective supports post-graduation to encourage retention in the profession
Manage a team of four direct reports and engage multiple university faculty, mentors and other partners to drive effective implementation of the STR program including recruitment of residents, curriculum development, practicum structure, resident and mentor development, and graduate induction support
Hire and supervise other Residency staff and partners as needed, including instructional team employed by the UW
Lead and engage multiple teams across four partner institutions (UW, SPS, SEA, AFE) including school and district leadership, along with community-based organizations and philanthropy, to ensure cohesive and impactful program implementation, program alignment, and continuous improvement
Work directly with school district leaders, particularly in Human Resources and Curriculum & Instruction, to ensure program alignment, strong partnership, collaborative problem-solving, and collection and sharing of best practices, systems, and data
Participate on UW Teacher Education Program (TEP) leadership team and ensure all processes, policies, and practices required by the College of Education (COE) and UW Graduate School are followed; meet and collaborate regularly with the Assistant Dean of Teacher Education to ensure full program integration into all aspects of TEP and COE
In partnership with the Manager of Clinical Practice, support, plan and facilitate equity-focused, monthly professional development for staff and mentor teachers
Ensure the collection, analysis and reporting of qualitative and quantitative data relevant to teacher, mentor, student and school experience, to assess impact and ensure continuous program improvement
Represent the Seattle Teacher Residency in state and national workgroups focused on policies and practices related to diversifying the educator workforce and mentoring novice teachers; share and learn from best practices
Work in close collaboration with Alliance for Education staff, to ensure organizational cohesiveness and alignment and to support impact assessment, strategic programmatic (organizational) development, sustainability, fundraising efficacy, and cross- departmental learning and understanding

Ongoing Program Improvement
Develop and manage implementation of STR’s mission, vision, values and strategic plan, and ensure alignment with the Alliance’s mission, vision, values and strategic plan, as well as with the UW, SPS and SEA
Collaborate and co-learn with the Vice President of Impact, the Director of the RNNF and other program leads to ensure understanding of the Residency’s work and impact, and to support the identification of strengths, challenges and opportunities for improvement in the Residency and across AFE programs

Finance & Fundraising
Oversee the Residency’s financial health by creating and managing the $1.8M annual program budget and grant budgets, in partnership with the Alliance’s VP of Finance
Collaborate with the Alliance’s Advancement team, the UW College of Education and the HR team at SPS to secure diversified and sustainable funds for STR. This includes standing meeting with the Advancement team, support to identify potential funders, making presentations to current and prospective donors, planning and hosting program visits, and providing content including quantitative and qualitative data for grant proposals and reports

Community Engagement
Design and implement opportunities for the Alliance to listen to and learn directly from STR residents and their students, to ground strategy in the experiences of those most impacted by STR’s work
Collaborate with the VP of Impact to develop partnerships with Seattle Public Schools representatives at both the central office and schoolhouse, to ensure deep understanding of the SPS landscape, aligned and effective partnership and strong impact in our shared efforts to prepare effective and anti-racist teachers for Seattle Public Schools classrooms
Collaborate with the VP of Impact to develop dialogue, relationships and partnerships with STR-relevant community-based organizations, locally and nationally
Support the Manager of Recruitment in the development of community partnerships to build pathways into teaching and increase interest and participation in STR
Serve as a community leader representing STR in the K12 education space; engage in local community as well as national research convenings on teacher preparation, racial equity and educational justice as an expert in the field
Lead and participate in the development and support of advisory boards (i.e. STR alumni board) and the Seattle Teacher Residency steering committee
Serve as primary liaison to the National Center for Teacher Residencies (NCTR) and other Residency programs nationally and lead the work of sharing and learning best practices in Residency program effectiveness and sustainability
Act as an ambassador and spokesperson for the STR program to the wider Seattle community, state and nation

Organizational Leadership
In partnership with the AFE Extended Leadership Team, support culture-building at the Alliance; define and strengthen organizational culture, centered on our commitment to racial equity and educational justice
Support the creation of an organizational environment oriented to trust, open communication, creativity and teamwork
Pro-actively engage in and support organizational and individual work to learn about and advance anti-racism
Work cross-departmentally to ensure staff understanding of student experience and district strengths and challenges
Work in partnership with all members of the Alliance for Education team to advance the mission of the organization
Ensure the Alliance board is informed about the outcomes, strengths and challenges experienced by the STR Program

Skills and Qualifications:
Master’s degree in Education and 10+ years of professional experience, preferably with specific experience in higher education and K12 education, program management, people management, strategic planning, organizational culture, and impact measurement
Experience with teacher preparation; ability to identify and support good instruction in both K-12 and higher education
Strong foundation in and learning mindset with regard to racial equity and anti-racism principles and action, especially with regard to teaching and teacher education
A strong passion for public education and youth and for understanding and addressing the impacts of systemic racism and economic inequity; commitment to carrying out the mission of the Alliance and the Seattle Teacher Residency
Community-builder; relationship-builder, collaborator. Strong emotional intelligence. Demonstrated ability to understand, work with and build relationships and partnerships with a wide variety of people across sectors. Able to quickly earn the confidence and respect of classroom teachers, school administrators and other education professionals
Demonstrated team leadership and management skills
Strong communication skills, including ability to speak publicly and write and edit persuasive materials; able to present a compelling case for support of all types
Demonstrated ability to prioritize and manage projects; effective time management and impactful goal delivery
Experience generating, analyzing, setting metrics for and learning from data, both qualitative and quantitative, and capacity to communicate regarding programmatic impact in terms of data outcomes
Experience with designing and managing budgets
Positive, can-do, professional attitude
Entrepreneurial mindset, strategic thinker, problem-solver
Experience with strategy design, strategic planning and strategy implementation
Team player ready to work collaboratively with other members of the Alliance staff
Demonstrated organizational ability and a strong attention to accuracy and detail; ability to manage complex systems and multiple requests
Excellent judgment and decision-making skills; ethical standards based in equity and justice

Preferred education AND/OR experience includes:

PhD or EdD preferred
Previous teaching experience in urban public schools, including in Title I environments
Work in diverse work environments, including racial and economic diversity
Leadership in the education sector (K12 and Higher Education), including engaging with senior district leadership
Experience in the non-profit sector
Experience convening community and leadership to collaborate across sectors and advance large-scale projects

Employment Details
The Alliance for Education is affiliated with the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce; staff members of the Alliance are officially employees of the Chamber and participate in Chamber benefit plans.

The Chamber is committed to internal and market equity. The full pay range for this position is from $99,840 to 159,744 annually. The target pay range for hiring for this position is from $99,840 to $129,792 annually, based on job-related experience and skills. The Chamber provides a comprehensive and competitive benefits package including but not restricted to:

• Medical/Dental/Vision Coverage
• PTO/Community Service Leave
• Paid Parental Leave
• Generous Holiday Schedule and Paid Days Off
• Life Insurance; Optional ADD/LTD/Personal Accident Insurance
• Subsidized ORCA Card
• Flexible Spending Accounts
• Employer-Matched 401(k) Contribution with up to 6% Match
• Professional Development Opportunities
• EAP Membership
• Mindfulness and Wellness Resources

We recognize the value of the Chamber and our affiliate organizations and programs reflecting the diversity of our community and are intentionally and actively seeking out applications from a variety of backgrounds, including members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC).

The Chamber is an equal opportunity employer. All employees and potential employees will be recruited, selected, trained, promoted, and, if necessary, disciplined without regard to sex, race, religion, creed, caste, marital status, age, national origin, ancestry, color, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, political ideology or activity, disability, honorably-discharged veteran or military status. All applicants are carefully screened, and full consideration is given to their training, education, skills, aptitudes, experience, and previous work record. In addition, the Chamber does not discriminate on the basis of genetic information in its employment related policies and practices, including coverage under its health benefits program.