POSITION DETAILS:
Under the direction of the Director of Special Education, the Special Education Early Literacy Specialist provides leadership and direct support to improve foundational reading outcomes for students with disabilities, with the goal of securing foundational reading skills by the end of Grade 3. The Specialist ensures coherence among each students Individualized Education Program (IEP), core (Tier 1) literacy instruction, intensive intervention, and progress monitoring, and ensures that instruction is adjusted promptly when data indicates an insufficient response.
The Specialist serves multiple elementary schools in partnership with building teams and the Corporations Special Education and Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment departments. The Specialist supports, and does not supplant, the case conference committee. Recommendations regarding IEP content are submitted to the teacher of record and the case conference committee for consideration.
QUALIFICATIONS:
A. Educational Requirements:
- Bachelor's Degree
- Valid Indiana teaching license in an appropriate content area
- Early Literacy Endorsement preferred
B. Skills and Knowledge:
- Demonstrated knowledge of evidence-based reading instruction and the science of reading.
- Knowledge of foundational literacy development, including phonemic awareness, phonics, decoding, encoding, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.
- Ability to interpret assessment and progress monitoring data and translate findings into instructional decisions.
- Strong communication, collaboration, organization, and problem-solving skills.
- Ability to work effectively across multiple schools and with multiple teams.
- Knowledge of DIBELS/mCLASS, diagnostic reading assessments, and progress monitoring are preferred.
- Training in structured literacy or other evidence-based approaches to reading intervention preferred.
C. Experience:
- Experience working with students with reading disabilities or significant reading difficulties.
- Experience developing or implementing IEP goals related to literacy.
- Licensure or significant experience in special education, reading, or both preferred.
- Experience working with students with reading disabilities or significant reading difficulties preferred.
- Experience delivering intensive literacy intervention preferred.