Title: School Improvement and Data Specialist

Department: Planning & Evidence-based Support Office

Reports To: Executive Director, Planning & Evidence-based Support Office

The School District of Philadelphia is the cornerstone provider of public education in Philadelphia. For forward-thinking administrators and educators, opportunities abound. Over 131,000 students entrusted to the District arrive at school every day with an extraordinary range of needs and aspirations. We are committed to delivering on their right to an excellent public school education, and we are particularly focused on ensuring every student has access to exceptional educational opportunities. Equity is our mandate. Will you join us?

Job Summary

Provides direct support to Learning Networks and schools in School Improvement to meet requirements set forth in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) legislation, as well as supporting overall school improvement planning in all schools in the District. Implements and provides day-to-day operational support for programs and activities in schools related to school improvement planning, focusing on the fidelity of implementation of the activities set forth in the school plan. Supports the efforts of schools, and Learning Networks to effectively use information from the District and Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) data systems in order to improve instruction in classrooms leading to increased achievement on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) for grades 3-8 and/ or PA Keystone Exams for grades 9-12. Provides training and support to leadership teams, school advisory councils, Student Advisors, and other Learning Network staff to ensure effective implementation of the school plan and its compliance to Title 1 and PDE requirements.

Essential Functions

• Provides intensive support to schools on the Action Planning process, including revising of plans as well as assisting schools in the consistent monitoring of plan activities.

• Ensures that school instructional leadership and improvement teams are informed of current PDE and District Action Planning procedures and reporting requirements.

• Facilitates the ongoing analysis of state and local assessment data as it relates to the school, individual student achievement and improvement of instruction.

• Reviews assessment data with teachers, individually and with departments, grade levels, or instructional teams.

• Ensures that Learning Network leaders and school staff have a clear understanding of the appropriate use of student achievement data.

• Assists schools in becoming proficient in using PDE’s on-line, interactive data tools to support the development of the Action Plan for Student Achievement.

• Provides information to the leadership teams on school performance using SchoolNet, PVAAS and eMetric and other information management systems.

• Acts as a liaison between the schools and Learning Networks to lead school faculties in gathering and analyzing of high stakes state and locally relevant data to facilitate decision-making at the school.

• Participates in the coordination of professional development on Action Planning procedures to school and district staff.

• Works with other central offices to develop, design and deliver professional development activities to improve instruction by more effective use of student performance data.

• Collaborates with other central offices to develop, and design and deliver professional development activities to improve instruction through more effective use of student performance data.

Minimum Requirements

• Master’s degree from an accredited college or university.

• Five years of full-time, paid, professional educational experience with documented expertise in the area of school planning and data review and interpretation, three of which have included working with school utilization state data tools.

NOTE: Employees who apply for this position must commit to serving in this capacity for a minimum 24-month period.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Demonstrated knowledge of:

• PA Academic Content Standards, PSSA & Keystone Assessment Anchors/Eligible Content, PDE’s Standards Aligned System (SAS) and Philadelphia Core Curriculum.

• assessment and interpreting and applying classroom-based and system-wide data to drive student achievement that includes familiarity with PDE data tools such as Emetric and PVAAS and District tools such as SchoolNet.

• descriptive and inferential data analysis.

• utilizing and triangulate data sets.

• the State’s School Improvement Planning (SIP) process, with a clear understanding of PDE’s school plan formats.

• PowerPoint, InDesign and/or other design software.

• Demonstrated ability to:

• learn more about assessment data and how this data may be used at the regional and school level to both monitor and improve instruction.

• work cross-functionally to ensure that all District-held data are accurate, complete, understandable, and accessible to relevant stakeholder groups.

• work with a sense of urgency.

• exhibit tactfulness and respect towards all colleagues.

• be optimistic and entrepreneurial.

• solve problems, anticipate issues and troubleshoot with good judgment and critical thinking.

• be detail oriented and hold self and others accountable to a high standard of quality assurance.

• make effective presentations to regional and school staffs on SIP, use of data tools, and the effective use of data to better target instruction.

• use computer applications including Excel, PowerPoint and Microsoft Word.

• communicate effectively, both orally and in writing.

• establish and maintain effective working relationships.

Disclaimer

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this classification. They are not to be construed, as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of personnel so classified.