Director, Early Education

Description

Job Summary: The Director of Early Education is a member of the Leadership Team of the department (Children and Family Services) and is responsible for directing and coordinating educational services for all enrolled children ages 0-12 in accordance with Head Start Performance Standards, California Department of Education Title V Regulations, Community Care Licensing Title 22 Regulations. 

As an agency director, this position is also part of the agency-wide Leadership Team and accountable for upholding its commitment to excellence, as well as for programmatic support of fund development, marketing, and communications efforts in support of agency objectives.

Direct reports include Mentor Coaches and Education and Inclusion Managers.

Primary Responsibilities

Administration and Management

•    Assists in the development of and implementation of goals, policies and activities designed to implement the agency’s mission, objectives and performance standards.
•    Develops and implements the Head Start Training and Technical Assistance Plan in concert with the management team.
•    Proposes new programs based on the needs of the community, assists in seeking funding and administration of new programs
•    Develops and updates policies and procedures for Children and Family Services operations.
•    Provides leadership for the program in the area of Early Childhood Development research and best practices.

Coordination of Services

•    Plans the education services with an interdisciplinary team of staff, parents and community representatives and supervises the implementation of the plan.
•    Participates in case management meetings and investigations when educational issues or teacher issues are involved.
•    Represents the Agency effectively at community meetings, provides in-service training to agency employees, consults with other agencies and schools and represent the Agency at marketing events.
•    Markets all Agency programs to the community through presentations to groups of varying size.

Evaluation and Monitoring

•    Utilizes assessment tools and learning modes including DRDP, CLASS, Creative Curriculum, ASQ-3/ASQ-SE2 to obtain desired program outcomes.
•    Partners with the Learning & Evaluation team and the Operations & Compliance team to use Child Plus data to track and monitor child and program outcomes.
•    Prepare reports for Executive Director, CEO, Board of Directors, and Parent Leadership Council regularly to track activities and child outcomes. 
•    Assures contract compliance including yearly requirements for ongoing monitoring, self-assessment, program plans, community assessment, and reporting requirements.
•    Actively supports the ongoing monitoring for program performance in school readiness goals/outcomes and program goals/outcomes.
•    Monitors and supports the implementation of both corrective actions and strategies that support continuous quality improvement and improve child/family outcomes.
•    Ensures Quality Assurance, Quality Improvement, and record keeping requirements for services are met in accordance to the contract and Agency’s policies and procedures
•    Develop and update School Readiness goals and monitor outcomes
•    Complete education section of the Program Improvement Report annually.
•    Serves as lead program contact for county Pre-K-3 Initiative
•    Coordinate coach consultants including county QRIS coaches 

Staff Development and Support

•    Supports curriculum development and implementation. Identifies training needs and implements yearly training plan.
•    Trains and mentors all teaching staff on the implementation of all tools used to support the curriculum and alignment with Head Start Program Performance Standards (HSPPS), California Early Learning Framework and Guidelines and the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework, Birth to Five (HELOF).
•    Observes classrooms and staff and provides supportive constructive feedback to improve teaching practices
•    Supports leadership with content development of Monthly In-Service trainings 
•    Provides effective, strength- and competency-based supervision to assigned supervisees.
•    Builds the capacity and skill of education team members to manage programs and employees effectively and efficiently.
•    Supports, reinforces, and implements Agency policies.

Provision/Assurance of Services
•    Visits centers regularly to meet with staff, parents and volunteers and to observe children and participate in family case conferences as needed.
•    Monitors and supports all screenings done by the teachers and home visitors to determine the appropriateness of individualized curriculum provided by teaching staff.
•    Monitors the reviewing of lesson plans, socialization plans, child observations, and parent summaries by the supervisors, to ensure that curriculum concepts and goals are being met and to ensure that individualization is taking place.
•    Meets regularly with direct reports to review activities and outcomes to ensure that the program’s mission and goals are being met at the center and home visit level.
•    Establishes trusting relationships with the parents in the program and works with the teaching staff to find comfortable ways for the parents to be involved in the program.
•    Works in collaboration with Children and Family Services management to support staff in their work with children with challenging behaviors, special needs or disabilities.

MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP RESPONSIBILITIES:

•    Responsible for supporting and leading the education team on the agency’s commitment to a whole-family approach to service delivery and strengthened outcomes in community; actively engages across programs with directors and frontline staff called Success Coaches to ensure timely and accurate information sharing, listening to community needs, and responsiveness. 
•    Ensures that all classroom teachers have knowledge of and access to resources that promote CAM’s Whole Family Approach.
•    Carries out supervisory responsibilities in accordance with the organization's policies and applicable laws. Responsibilities include interviewing, hiring, and training employees; planning, assigning, and directing work; appraising performance; rewarding and disciplining employees; addressing complaints and resolving problems.
•    Ensures the timely submission of all performance appraisals, new hire and termination paperwork and other employee status changes including informing HR of employee leaves, work-related injuries, and employee incidents
•    Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

Qualifications

•    Master’s Degree or equivalent in early childhood education, public administration, social work, human services, or a related field, and a minimum of 5 years of experience in a director, associate director, manager or similar leadership role with full responsibilities for program and contractual oversight or Bachelor's degree or equivalent in early childhood education, public administration, human services, or related field and a minimum of 10 years of experience working with families and children prenatal to four years of age with at least 5 years in a management capacity with full responsibilities for program and contractual oversight.
•    Valid Child Development Program Director Permit
•    Experience in program administration, including program planning and budgeting, operations and evaluation, and management information systems.
•    Experience in supervising both direct service delivery staff and supervisory and management staff.
•    Strong knowledge of theories and practices of Early Childhood Education/Development, Family Engagement/Social Services with a focus on Infant/Toddler development.
•    Knowledge of Head Start Performance Standards.
•    Strong leadership, organizational, and time management skills with the ability to meet tight deadlines.
•    Strategic thinker, excellent problem solving and communication skills.
•    Ability to be an excellent representative of the Agency to the community.
•    Excellent written and oral communication skills.
•    Excellent interpersonal skills, including the ability to work cooperatively as a team member.
•    Bi-lingual in English/Spanish preferred.
•    CLASS Certification
•    Administrative experience with childcare programs serving infants and toddlers
•    Administrative experience of managing state funded childcare contracts
•    Knowledge of local and state health, safety and licensing regulations for childcare facilities
•    Effective oral and written communication skills
•    Intermediate proficiency of office applications including MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, SharePoint, and Teams) 
•    Experience working with families of low-income. Strong commitment to the field of child and family development services
•    Ability to convey ideas and communicate effectively often in the form of public speaking/presentation skill,
•    Deep understanding – and ability to articulate – the role equity, inclusion, and diversity plays in our work

Physical Requirements

•    Bend: flexion of the upper trunk forward while standing and knees extended, or knees flexed when sitting
•    Lift: exertion of physical strength to move objects 10-25lbs from one level to another
•    Carry: hold or rest weighted objects 10-25lbs directly on hands, arms, shoulders or back while moving from one location to another
•    Climb: ascend/descend with gradual or continuous progress, using both hands and feet
•    Push: exertion of force on or against an object (weight/size) to move it from one location to another.
•    Feel: perceiving attributes of objects, such as size, shape, temperature, or texture by touching with skin.

Salary : $110,000 - $125,000