Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is one of the largest school districts in the United States, serving over 320,000 students in 600 schools and employing approximately 40,000 people, most of them teachers. CPS has set ambitious goals to ensure that every student, in every school and every neighborhood, has access to a world-class learning experience that prepares each for success in college, career, and civic life. In order to fulfill this mission, we make three commitments to our students, their families, and all Chicagoans: academic progress, financial stability, and integrity. Six core values are embedded within these commitments - student-centered, whole child, equity, academic excellence, community partnership, and continuous learning.
Located within the Office of Teaching and Learning, the Department of STEM at Chicago Public Schools (CPS) supports inclusive and innovative learning experiences in math, science, computer science, and whole-school integrated STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) & STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) programming across the district. It is our commitment that every day, in every STEM classroom at CPS, all students will actively make sense of and construct solutions to complex questions, productively contribute to the learning community to support a culture of collaboration, risk-taking, and innovation, and regularly reflect on and communicate their understanding of disciplinary ideas. Through these experiences and purposeful opportunities to face transdisciplinary challenges, students will graduate from CPS with advanced STEM literacies prepared to make the world a better place.
Job Summary:
The Program Assistant, Computer Science - Access for All supports the day-to-day operations, coordination, and data analysis work needed to bridge the gap between academic institutions, students, industry partners, and sometimes the community.
This position is supported by the grant through October 2026 (with the possibility for a one-year extension into 2027).
The Program Assistant, Computer Science - Access for All will be held accountable for the following responsibilities:

• Attend meetings and coordinate grant-related activities (e.g., professional development, data collection, and analysis) in support of the expansion of AP Computer Science Principles courses available across the district
• Assist with planning, scheduling, organizing, and facilitating operations and meetings and coordinating interactions with external research partners, researchers, Central Office, and school staff as needed for the grant.
• Conduct interviews of relevant stakeholders including, but not limited to, principals, assistant principals (APs), teachers, students, families, and community members.
• Support principals, school counselors, designated academic course programmers at high schools, and other Computer Science team staff in planning for and scheduling AP CS Principles course sections at schools and with the Virtual Academy.
• Contribute to overall grant project management by tracking both project task deadlines and major department milestones (e.g., AP exam enrollment, registrations, completion, and scores)
• Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders and grant partners to develop and implement measurement tools for CS program evaluation as aligned to the Access for All Grant.
• Plan and coordinate special events and community outreach activities as needed for Access for All Grant
• Identify ways to improve or streamline grant reporting processes by aligning reporting with the Access for All grants logic model, incorporating feedback, and learning to adapt to changing needs and expectations.
• In collaboration with the Director of Computer Science, develop a set of performance metrics specific to the Access for All Grant by collecting historical data, measuring participation, monitoring and evaluating (M&E) Plans, and reporting on outcomes.
• Assist in locating Student Online Privacy and Protection Act (SOPPA) approved technical tools.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

In order to be successful and achieve the above responsibilities, the Computer Science Program Liaison must possess the following qualifications:
Education Required:

• Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university, required; concentration in computer science or a related field is preferred.
• Master's degree in computer science/information systems, education, business, social work or related field preferred.

Experience Required:

• A minimum of two (2) years of professional experience in education, nonprofit, technology- or business-related functions, including the following, is required:
• Experience coordinating programs and analyzing program data
• One (1) year of relevant experience in a university research assistant position or other program or project management-related experience, preferred
• Experience working with data management systems, Salesforce, or other relational database management systems preferred
• Experience coding HTML, CSS, or related web design apps preferred

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Ability to articulate a vision, set high standards, and effectively guide schools and principals in the realization of expectations set
• Strong verbal and written communication, listening, and presentation skills
• Effective planning capabilities and ability to manage activities toward goal fulfillment
• Knowledge of operations, budget/finance, management, and organizational development
• Ability to build collaborative relationships with a variety of constituent groups, including external partners, to ensure the entire system operates in the most effective manner possible to support schools and principals
• Ability to define problems, analyze data, and outline valid conclusions and action steps
• Capable of proactively connecting information coming from multiple sources and understanding how this information will affect internal and external team members
• Advanced proficiency with Office productivity tools, including Microsoft Office, specifically Excel, PowerPoint, Word, and Google Tools (Docs, Sheets, SmartSheets, Slides, Forms).

Conditions of Employment
As a condition of employment with the Chicago Public Schools (CPS), employees are required to:

• Establish/Maintain Chicago Residency - Employees are required to live within the geographic boundaries of the City of Chicago within six months of their CPS hire date and maintain residency throughout their employment with the district. The Chicago residency requirement does not apply to temporary/part-time positions, however, all CPS employees must be residents of Illinois.
• Be Fully Vaccinated Against COVID-19 - Unless approved for a medical or religious exemption, all employees are required to be up-to-date on COVID-19 vaccinations, including boosters, and to submit proof of vaccination to the district within 30 days of hire. "Up-to-date" on vaccination is defined as being at least two weeks past all primary vaccine doses and any applicable boosters.