Adult Education Services Associate
- Full-time
Company Description
With a workforce of over 30,000 people, and opportunities in more than 1,000 different job categories, the City of Philadelphia is the sixth largest city in the United States and one of the largest employers in Southeastern Pennsylvania. As an employer, the City of Philadelphia operates through the guiding principles of service, integrity, respect, accountability, collaboration, diversity and inclusion. Through these principles, we strive to effectively deliver services, to resolve the challenges facing our city, and to make Philadelphia a place where all of our residents have the opportunity to reach their potential.
What We Offer:
Impact - The work you do here matters to millions.
Growth - Philadelphia is growing, why not grow with it?
Diversity & Inclusion - Find a career in a place where everyone belongs.
Benefits - We care about your wellbeing.
AGENCY DESCRIPTION
The Office of Children and Families works to improve outcomes for all Philadelphia children and families, build stronger communities, and support great schools in every neighborhood. The Office of Children and Families (OCF) administers a number of City-supported programs, including Out-of-School Time, WorkReady, Community Schools, PHLpreK, as well as Access Centers. OCF also oversees the Department of Human Services (DHS), Philadelphia Parks and Recreation, the Philadelphia Free Library, as well as Adult Education.
The Adult Education division is embedded in OCF and oversees the City’s planning and investments in adult education. Adult Education seeks to ensure adults have equitable access to the foundational educational opportunities and programs needed to accomplish their education, career, family, and civic goals. Adult Education includes adults 16 years and older who need to support in reading, writing, or math skills for further education and training, and/or who are not native English speakers/writers and/or who have not completed high school.
Programs and services include (or to be included):
· myPLACE - A centralized intake, assessment and referral city-wide system connecting low-skill adults to opportunities for improving basic academic skills, English language proficiency and digital fluency needed to access meaningful career opportunities. With 5 Campuses and a network of 32 partner organizations across Philadelphia, myPLACE has an extensive reach in all neighborhoods of the city.
· Funding for community-based providers to offer additional adult literacy classes that include: High School Equivalency (GED, HiSET preparation), and i-Pathways; High School Credit, Early School Leavers Transition Program; Basic skills review; English as a Second Language, and citizenship preparation; Literacy tutoring, volunteer literacy tutor training. This includes funding to support adult education services in Community Schools.
· Digital Literacy: Developing and supporting the next iteration of Public Computing Centers (PCCs). This is a network of computer labs throughout Philadelphia, promoting digital skills and providing numerous communities with free access to the Internet. Public computing centers offer open hours, trainings and programs, and other digital skills opportunities.
Workforce: Connecting, informing and be a key representative around existing and future workforce efforts in the city.
Job Description
The Adult Education Services Associate will be a key member of a small closely-knit team that will work in collaboration with public and private partners throughout the city to make a lasting difference for the benefit of the city's and each citizen's growth and prosperity by supporting the coordination and integration of adult education services at Community Schools and Public Computing Centers.
The Adult Education Services Associate manages the operational activities of programs sponsored by and/or implemented by Adult Education. Specifically, the Adult Education Services Associate supports, coordinates, and implements various digital literacy and adult education services at Community Schools, other K-12 schools, and public computer centers located in various neighborhoods and/or agencies across the City. This position reports to the Senior Manager.
Essential Functions
General Functions
· Works with contracted provider agencies to initiate/establish program delivery at Community Schools (CS), other K-12 schools, and public computing centers (PCC) across the City.
· Works with providers and OCF staff to support effective recruitment and enrollment of learners in Adult Education’s (AE) programing at CS and PCCs.
· Provides support and training to providers and city staff for the effective utilization of myPLACE, Northstar and creation of new learner accounts in Adult Education’s student information system (SIS).
· Ensures ongoing use of AE’s Student Information System to facilitate and coordinate adult education and digital literacy services and outcomes for learners.
· Conducts, in collaboration with the Executive Director and Senior Manager, monthly evaluation of each provider, tracks compliance and make necessary adjustments to improve service delivery and outcomes.
· Conducts and documents site visits to monitor intake and assessment protocols at community schools, public computing centers; and assess need for additional support and instructional resources.
· Partners with local organizations to promote adult education and digital literacy programing, and to recruit digital literacy and adult education participants.
· Works with the Executive Director and Senior Manager to engage the larger K-12 school system in digital literacy and adult education offerings.
Program and Reporting Support
· Conduct regular site visits to PCCs and CS for programmatic support and/or corrective action.
· Develops, in collaboration with AE’s Executive Director, Senior Manager and Data Coordinator, protocols and processes to monitor services for compliance and to ensure quality improvement, including student satisfaction surveys, compiling results, and providing feedback to sponsored programs for improvement of services and instruction.
· Tracks, with support from the Data Coordinator, the adult education providers progress towards meeting performance goals, and submits quarterly updates to OCF leadership team.
· Manages relationships and coordinate activities with various providers and staff such as the Philadelphia Parks and Recreation’s Field Support Coordinator, the Community Schools Coordinators, and the Digital Literacy providers.
· Manages and coordinates program activities, adult education and digital literacy workshops, and training opportunities at funded and non-funded Public Computing Centers, and at Community Schools.
· Participates in the development of a computer skills’ digital badge program that provides adult learners and job seekers with a tool to show progress and achievement; reducing the number of times adults need to receive training in the same content areas, supporting their advancement and improving/facilitating access across systems.
· Collaborates with City agencies and external partners and stakeholders to support a network of public access and digital literacy programs across the city.
Communications and Coordination
· With the OCF Communications team, plays a key role in developing communication strategies and content
· Coordinates and distributes print materials
· Maintain communication with contracted providers and other stakeholders
· Facilitate meetings with contracted providers to ascertain service trends to be responsive to changes and needs
· Participate in applicable professional development, outreach, and promotional events
· Coordinate networking and learning opportunities for the PCC and CS networks
· Supports, coordinates, and participates in provider and partner network meetings as appropriate
Other Functions
· Supports the Adult Education Data Coordinator to ensure accurate digital literacy, digital assessment, intake, classes, and workshop are properly recorded in the database
· Supports PPR Coordinator on data collection efforts and offers professional development as needed to ensure data is collected and entered properly
· Tracks impact to improve services
· Collects, analyze, and prepare reports on all Monthly and Quarterly Numerical and Programmatic data and holds Community Schools and PCC providers and staff accountable for timely submissions
· Provide technical assistance and training as required or necessary to adult education professionals, community members, Community School coordinators, school-based staff, and others on strategies, systems and processes related to the provision of digital literacy and adult education services
· Identify new opportunities for partnerships and resources to support the expansion of digital literacy
Other relevant duties as assigned.
Competencies, Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
Action Oriented
Enjoys working hard; is action oriented and full of energy for the things he/she sees as challenging; not fearful of acting with a minimum of planning; seizes more opportunities than others; effectively communicate ensuring that all duties are completed accurately and delivered with high quality and in a timely manner.
Dealing with Ambiguity
Can effectively cope with change; can shift gears comfortably; can decide and act without having the total picture; isn’t upset when things are up in the air; doesn’t have to finish things before moving on; can comfortably handle; Discreet with handling confidential and time sensitive information; Rely on experience and judgment to plan and accomplish goals and a wide degree of creativity and latitude is expected.
Conflict Management
Steps up to conflicts, seeing them as opportunities; reads situations quickly; good at focused listening; can hammer out tough agreements and settle disputes equitably; can find common ground and get cooperation with minimum noise.
Effective Team Player
Contributes positive and strong morale and spirit in his/her team; shares wins and successes; fosters open dialogue; defines success in terms of the whole team; creates a feeling of belonging in the team.
Process Management
Good at figuring out the processes necessary to get things done; knows how to organize people and activities; understands how to separate and combine tasks into efficient work flow; knows what to measure and how to measure it; can see opportunities for synergy and integration where others can't; can simplify complex processes; gets more out of fewer resources.
Qualifications
- Bachelors' required.
- Experience with community outreach and workshop planning preferred, and familiarity with online and face-to-face modes of delivery.
- Outstanding verbal and written communications skills.
- Communication experience from social media, website, and blogs
- Ability to work with people of diverse backgrounds, abilities, and socio-economic status.
- The ideal candidate will have strong organizational skills, attention to detail and ability to work in a fast-paced environment.
- Experience with adult education, social service agencies or with the learner population is essential.
- Knowledge of and experience with digital literacy tools such as Northstar
- Experience working with K-12 school-based systems
- Must be a team player with a passion for adult education.
Demonstrated knowledge of:
- Program management
- Basic principles of adult education program design
- Adult education systems and standards
- Digital literacy research
- Integrating external programming into K-12 school settings
- Communication experience
- Philadelphia neighborhoods (a plus)
- Student Information Systems
Demonstrated ability to:
- Collaborate with multiple stakeholders
- Juggle multiple priorities and see them through from concept to completion
- Communicate and present information effectively
- Establish and maintain effective working relationships with multiple stakeholders
Additional Information
Salary: $65,000
As a condition of employment with the City of Philadelphia, employees starting employment on or after September 1, 2021 must be vaccinated.
Successful candidate must be a City of Philadelphia resident within six months of hire.
The City of Philadelphia is an Equal Opportunity employer and does not permit discrimination based on race, ethnicity, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, marital status, source of income, familial status, genetic information or domestic or sexual violence victim status. If you believe you were discriminated against, call the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations at 215-686-4670 or send an email to [email protected]. For more information, go to: Human Relations Website: http://www.phila.gov/humanrelations/Pages/default.aspx