Title: Director, Co-Teaching Coach

Location: New Orleans, Louisiana

Start Date: July 2021

Who We Are

Blue Engine is an education nonprofit that optimizes the power of team teaching, the approach of having multiple teachers work together in a classroom in service of a shared outcome for students. We partner with teachers, schools, districts, and education organizations to ensure that educators can effectively collaborate and individualize instruction for every learner—regardless of race, income level, or learning style. In doing so, Blue Engine delivers mindset shifts and effective practices for teachers and engaging, identity-affirming learning experiences for students. 

We amplify the great things already happening in communities by intentionally and thoughtfully designing partnerships with schools, districts, and education organizations. Through these partnerships, we shift teachers’ mindsets, make collaboration more effective, and improve instructional practices—resulting in academic gains for students. The end result is measurable, tangible gains for everyone in the classroom. Teachers report mindset shifts and improvements in their ability to collaborate, reflect on data, and meet the needs of all learners. Students in Blue Engine classrooms demonstrate academic gains (Algebra students in Blue Engine-designed classrooms gain the equivalent of six additional months of learning in a single school year when compared to non-Blue Engine classrooms) and experience engaging, identity-affirming learning. After more than a decade of operating in New York City, we are eager to deepen our impact as well as partner with educators in new regions.

The Role

Blue Engine is seeking a Louisiana-based Co-Teaching Coach to provide job-embedded professional learning for co-teaching teams leveraging Blue Engine’s Team Collaboration Approaches in service of dramatic impact on student outcomes. The Co-Teaching Coach will support general educators and special educators to effectively collaborate as a team, co-plan, use data to adjust instruction and meet the needs of all learners in the classroom. The Co-Teaching Coach will also collaborate with school leaders to develop & execute a multi-year plan, embedding co-teaching practices school-wide. This role is a perfect opportunity for someone who believes we must transform traditional classrooms, is passionate about instructional coaching and the power of co-teaching for meeting the needs of all learners.  

Primary Responsibilities & Outcomes

1. Collaborate with school administrators to develop a multi-year vision and concrete goals for embedding effective co-teaching practices, approaches, and mindsets in their co-taught classrooms.
2. 1. Guide administrators to develop vision and goals for partnership and yearly indicators of progress towards that vision/goals
   2. Advise admin on selecting the right teachers and school officials involved during each phase of the partnership
   3. Support administrators to create school-level conditions required for effective team teaching (i.e. shared preps) 
   4. Collaborate regularly with admin to review cohort progress and align on/support in giving feedback to teachers grounded in our indicators
   5. Facilitate quarterly walkthroughs and co-observations with admin to share and spread Blue Engine practices
   6. Work closely with school leaders to develop a multi-year plan for spreading and supporting strong co-teaching practices school-wide
2. Coach teaching teams to have dramatic impact on both student learning (5+ additional months) & classroom experience.
3. 1. Provide data-based support to co-teachers through a mixture of Communities of Practice (PLCs) and targeted instructional coaching for co-teaching teams
   2. Help teams set academic goals for students; support data collection/reflection to monitor student progress
   3. Plan and execute frequent PLCs for the cohort in order to leverage the Plan Do Study Act cycle to continuously evolve co-teaching mindsets, practices, and approaches
   4. Provide targeted coaching using a variety of techniques including observations, debriefs, co-planning, modeling, feedback, check-ins, etc. to help teams develop their collaborative practices
   5. Collect and utilize student & teacher data to identify highest priority areas to inform coaching plans
   6. Create and manage coaching schedule across partner sites to execute necessary supports aligned to priorities

3. Cultivate and nurture coaching relationships that result in strong teacher satisfaction & efficacy on quarterly surveys.
4. 1. Build trusting relationships with teaching teams that motivate them to implement feedback
   2. Directly communicate consistent, clear, bite-sized feedback to teams about strengths and areas for growth
   3. Frequently solicit and incorporate feedback from teams to improve coaching practices
   4. Differentiate support based on team needs and context of the partner school
   5. Manage conflict or miscommunication early, directly, and respectfully 

4. Build co-teacher capacity to implement Blue Engine’s Team Collaboration Approaches.
5. 1. Proactively guide co-teachers through the stages of team development, including navigating conflict
   2. Support design and implementation of decentralized onboarding to introduce Blue Engine’s Team Collaboration Approaches
   3. Assess progress on Team Collaboration Approaches using Blue Engine’s Performance Management Plan; align support to areas of need
   4. Lead intervisitations amongst cohort to identify and replicate practices that support effective co-teaching
   5. Support design and implementation of quarterly team stepbacks on progress towards model implementation, student outcomes, and experience
5. Participate as a member of the broader Blue Engine community to support organizational learning and growth.
6. 1. Collaborate with Learning and Design (L&D) team members to support model updates that improve student outcomes
   2. Build context around Blue Engine’s history and the development of our existing Core Program Model
   3. Open practice to learning by L&D, colleagues, and future partners via data-sharing, hosting site visits, and raising questions
   4. Test model updates, share insights, and provide feedback to strengthen model improvements

Org-wide Responsibilities 

1. Champion Blue Engine’s mission & demonstrate strong alignment with organizational culture and values. 
2. Be a champion of BE’s mission and operate with a “students first” mentality
3. Proactively give constructive feedback to help Blue Engine continuously improve
4. Uphold and live out our Core Values and commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusiveness
5. Participate in collective organization-wide responsibilities

Who We Need

Our belief in teams extends beyond the classrooms we serve; we know that we are better together than we are as individuals. Our team supports one another to reflect, improve, and push our individual and collective practices to new levels. Blue Engine needs a Co-Teaching Coach who is driven; demonstrates exemplary professional behavior and values; and is resourceful, responsible, tenacious, independent, and honest.  We are looking for a person with exceptional interpersonal skills which will allow them to build relationships and effectively communicate with external stakeholders and staff. 

Specifically, we are searching for an individual who possesses the following:  

• Bachelor’s Degree; Master’s Degree Preferred.
• 5+ years of teaching experience with demonstrated impact on student outcomes; Special Education and/or co-teaching experience preferred.
• 2+ years of instructional coaching or school leadership experience required; must be comfortable coaching across multiple content areas. Demonstrated experience building strong coaching relationships, leading to shifts in teacher practice preferred.
• Ability to navigate varied school contexts and relationships with stakeholders in order to drive change.
• Efficient planning skills with demonstrated ability to manage competing priorities and a dynamic schedule.
• Comfort with ambiguity and complexity; ability to assess challenges, identify flexible solutions, and adapt as necessary.
• Strong oral and written communication skills.
• Commitment to working through obstacles to achieve individual and team goals; track record of following through on all tasks, big or small.
• Belief in and commitment to Blue Engine’s mission and organizational goals. Specifically: demonstrated belief in the value of diversity, inclusivity and anti-racism; awareness of cultural values, biases and difference in self and others and able to lead diverse, inclusive teams; love of collaboration, teamwork, and feedback.

Compensation

The salary range for this role is $75,000-$100,000. Compensation for this role will depend on a number of factors, including qualifications, experience, the region’s cost of labor as well as internal equity alignment. Blue Engine employees are provided comprehensive benefits, including six weeks paid time off.

To Apply

Applicants should submit their application (resume & application questions) via this link. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

OUR APPROACH TO DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSIVITY

Blue Engine is more than an “equal opportunity employer.” We acknowledge the roles we play as educators and leaders in the systems of oppression and racism that exist in our city, our communities, and our classrooms, and strive to become an actively anti-racist organization. We do this first by articulating the value of diversity, inclusivity, and equity as separate yet interwoven concepts; we evaluate decisions and policies through the lens of diversity, inclusivity, and equity; we pursue opportunities for continued learning about how historic and current systems of oppression manifest in individuals and organizations; we strive to increase our collective awareness of the cultural values, biases, and differences in self and others; we utilize skills of interruption to bring to bear cultural breaches along the lines of diversity, inclusivity, and anti-racism and combine these approaches to embrace and resolve conflict while fostering growth. We make this commitment because we know it enables us to more meaningfully connect with each other, our students, and the communities in which we work.