About KIPP New Jersey

KIPP New Jersey is part of the nationally recognized “Knowledge Is Power Program” network of free, open-enrollment, college-preparatory public schools dedicated to preparing students for success in college and in life. In 2002, 80 fifth graders walked through the doors of our first middle school in Newark, New Jersey and KIPP New Jersey has since grown to educate 8,135 students in grades K-12 across 17 schools in Newark and Camden. More than 90% of KIPP New Jersey students currently qualify for free or reduced meals. 

By 2025, KIPP New Jersey will provide a world-class education to over 10,300 students across fifteen schools in Newark and five in Camden. To learn more, visit www.kippnj.org.

Here's what you need to know:

KIPP NJ is hiring for a Director, Instructional Support (DIS) to support our schools, staff, and students in Newark, NJ.  At KIPP NJ, DISs serve first as members of our School Management Team, and then as leaders of their discipline in the academic program.  Using best practices, standards knowledge, vertical thinking, input and feedback from a wide range of stakeholders, and an equity lens for developing content, DISs are responsible for increasing the instructional leadership capacity of school-based leaders (including School Leaders, and Assistant Principals) by deepening everyone’s subject matter expertise and modeling and coaching instructional power moves. DISs are prepared to engage in challenging situations where they must improve results fast, using a wide toolkit of instructional expertise and coaching experience.

Serve as a Band Interventionist, Driving Results in Highest Need Areas (40%)

• Support the highest-priority areas across a school band as designated by a Head of Schools. Be willing to show flexibility in deploying to highest-need projects and learning environments.
• Drive designated, short and long-term, academic results for your content of focus at all costs.
• Support focus schools, new leadership teams, or new teachers, serving as an additional buffer in high-stakes learning environments

Coach and Support the Implementation of the Academic Program (20%)

• Beyond designated support outlined above, maintain steady-state support for an entire band of schools to get extraordinary results in both growth and achievement, by engaging in coaching & strategy sessions with each school based on need
• By working with instructional leaders in each school, build our school-based leaders’ content knowledge and instructional leadership capacity -- this may include engaging in walk-throughs, student work analysis protocols, coaching O3s, leading and monitoring content meetings, supporting PD implementation, and more 
• Ensure that every one of our schools is creating equitable experiences for students by increasing support at high-needs campuses when needed, and partnering with Teaching and Learning  in order to drive rapid improvement in key academic systems and processes 
• Analyze data and student work from major assessments with instructional leaders at each school and make recommendations about responding to misconceptions and implementing instructional next steps
• Serve as a point person for all things programmatic, operational, data-related, and logistical – from assessment questions to materials management – related to the grade level / subject the Coach is responsible for

Lead and Engage in Professional Development (20%)

• Support (co-plan, co-lead, lead/model) content TEAM meetings in schools, on an as-needed basis
• Embrace and develop skill in a wide range and methods of professional development and coaching, including real-time feedback, co-teaching and model teaching, observation and debrief, etc.

Serve as an Outstanding TEAMmate on the Regional Leadership TEAM (20%)

• Collaborate with other members of the RLT, to engage in coherent decision-making across the grade band and content area
• Participate in routine meetings with the RLT team, to solve tactical matters, engage in strategic work together, build vertical content knowledge and program, etc. 
• Participate in routine and/or schedule ad hoc meetings with Heads of Schools, School Leaders, and APs, to solve tactical matters, engage in strategic work together, and respond to the most pressing needs our schools have 
• Participate in periodic updates with Managing Director of Teaching and Learning, to ensure T&L team and Head of Schools team move in lockstep on highest priority needs at our schools
• In years that EKGs are in place, participate in the EKG Walk-Through process, to objectively score schools on instructional practice and to generate feedback designed to move schools forward
• Participate in teacher rubric scoring and rating, to help schools norm their scoring and calibrate the rubric scores for all teachers in a building

Must Haves:

• A track record of student achievement and growth in your own classroom
• Experience successfully driving results through others
• Strong coaching and data-analysis skills
• Ability to build relationships quickly

Physical Requirements

The usual and customary methods of performing the job’s functions require the following physical demands:

• Prolonged periods of working at computer and sitting at desk.
• Travel to various school locations in Newark, Camden and Miami.

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this job.

Compensation & Benefits

In addition to a competitive salary, KIPP NJ offers a full comprehensive benefits plan, including health care, retirement, a school laptop, and transportation benefits for TEAMmates commuting into New Jersey from the New York City area.