Academic Administrator Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is one of the largest school districts in the United States, serving over 320,000 students in 600+ schools and employing nearly 40,000 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.

District-run CPS schools are organized into 18 networks. which includes a recently formed Option High School Network, which provides administrative support, strategic direction, and leadership development to specific schools within each network.  This network support model is designed to support the unique needs of CPS Option High Schools and their school leaders who focus exclusively on those needs. The Options Network supports, authorizes, and manages a portfolio of district, charter, contract, and ALOP schools and programs serving approximately 6,000 students. 

Job Summary: 

This position will be responsible for participating in charter and contract school renewal and evaluative academic site visits. This position will utilize rubrics to collect and analyze data in order to assess the educational programs and practices of schools undergoing the renewal process. This position will also be responsible for synthesizing site visit observations and findings into a final Site Visit Report. This part-time/temporary position will be compensated for time worked on an hourly basis. The work schedule for this role will consist of an estimated 20-40 hours per week for an anticipated period of 5 months beginning in September 2024 and ending in January 2025. Due to the part-time/temporary nature of this work, this is not a benefit-eligible position. This role will report to the Manager of Performance and Support.

The part-time/temporary Academic Site Visit Evaluator will be held accountable for the following responsibilities:

• Participate in preparation meetings with schools prior to site visits.
• Conduct all-day site visits to include, but not limited to, classroom observations, document reviews, focus group participation.
• Synthesize information collected from the site visits and submitted by schools to create a comprehensive site visit report.
• Partner with the Authorization team to develop a calendar and cadence for preparation, conducting site visits, and generating reports. 
• Review and update rubrics and evaluation forms to more accurately reflect the Options schools context. 

In order to be successful and achieve the above responsibilities, the part-time/temporary Academic Site Visit Evaluator must possess the following qualifications: 

Education Required: 

• Master's degree required preferred
• Current Professional Educator Licensure with General Administrative Endorsement preferred
• ISBE Teacher Evaluator Qualifications preferred

Experience Required: 

• Minimum of three years of Assistant Principal or Principal experience.
• Preferred experience with charter, contract, and/or options schools. 

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

The ideal candidate will be able to assess a school and its leadership team on: 

• Instructional practices, using a research-based evaluation tool with an emphasis on taxonomy levels and school culture and climate;
• Instructional leadership, ability to assess school structures and school leader ability to effectively promote professional growth, and use data analysis in strategic planning leading to improve student outcomes; and
• Synthesized data gathered from stakeholders to inform overall academic and instructional practices of the school.

The candidate should also possess the following skills:

• Strong communication skills (speaking - including presentations - listening, and writing);
• Demonstrate high levels of instructional expertise, integrity, honesty, credibility, and the courage to make difficult yet necessary decisions;
• Ability to summarize complex sets of data related to instructional practices into a comprehensive report including recommendations for improvement;
• Strong collaboration skills, e.g. ability to develop effective systems and structures for evaluating school performance in a teaming structure;
• Knowledge of operations, budget/finance, management and organizational development; and
• Ability to define problems, analyze data, and outline valid conclusions and action steps.

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.
• Be Fully Vaccinated Against COVID-19 - Unless approved for a medical or religious exemption, all employees are required to be up-to-date on COVID-19 vaccinations, including boosters, and to submit proof of vaccination to the district within 30 days of hire. "Up-to-date" on vaccination is defined as being at least two weeks past all primary vaccine doses and any applicable boosters.