Instructional Specialist - Teaching & Learning

Overview

We are excited to consider your application for anticipated vacancies in the 2025-2026 school year. We are thrilled that you’re considering applying for openings expected in the 2025-2026 school year at Friendship Public Charter School. Our formal interview process will begin in January 2025, for our confirmed vacancies only. Non-vacant positions may still be posted during this time. 

Friendship Public Charter School operates a dynamic network of college-preparatory charter schools headquartered in Washington, DC. We proudly serve more than 4,800 preschool through 12th-grade students and support a growing network of alumni as they complete college. Our mission is to provide students with a world-class education that fosters ethical, literate, well-rounded, and self-sufficient individuals. We aim to inspire students to reach high academic standards, enjoy the learning process, succeed in their endeavors, and contribute actively to their communities. For 25 years, thanks to the dedication and expertise of our outstanding faculty, our students have excelled—achieving high graduation rates, college acceptance, and success both academically and socially.

An educator in the Instructional Specialist - Teaching & Learning (ISTL) role leads a small team of teachers, paraprofessionals, and teaching residents in the same grade or subject to meet the ISTL’s standards of excellence. ISTLs establish each team member’s roles and goals, determine how students spend time, and organize teaching roles to fit each teacher’s strengths, content knowledge, and professional development goals. The team uses the ISTL’s methods and tools. The ISTL co-plans, co-teaches, models, coaches and gives feedback, and leads and supports the team in building a tutoring culture. The ISTL may also be partially or fully released depending on the campus model. . The ISTL organizes the team to analyze student learning data and change instruction to ensure high-growth learning for every child, with a focus on small-group teaching and tutoring. The ISTL collaborates with the team, using the team’s ideas and innovations that the ISTL agrees may improve learning.  The ISTL  is fully accountable for the learning and development of all students taught by the team members. The ISTL earns a substantial stipend based on outcomes and other tasks.

For more information about our Teacher Evaluation Method, see the Danielson Framework for Teaching.

For more information about our schools please visit the following Social Media pages: YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook, Instagram & Twitter!

Please see the available salary scales: FPCS Compensation Stipend

Responsibilities

Planning and Preparation

• Set high expectations of achievement that are ambitious and measurable for all students taught by team
• Establish methods and create instructional tools and materials that team teachers use in all classrooms
• Set direction, verbally and with tools and materials, that clarify content and teaching process 
• Lead team to:
• plan backward to align all lessons, activities, and assessments using a high-standards curriculum 
• design and lead instruction that is enriched (developing higher-order thinking skills) and personalized (reflecting learning levels and interests of individual students), prioritizing small-group teaching and tutoring and offering accelerated learning
• design assessments that accurately assess student growth
• prepare to deliver small-group teaching and tutoring

Classroom Environment

• Lead team to:
• hold students accountable for high expectations of behavior and engagement that are ambitious and measurable 
• create physical classroom environments conducive to collaborative and individual learning
• establish a culture of respect, enthusiasm, and rapport 

Instruction

• Lead team to:
• hold students accountable for ambitious, measurable standards of academic achievement
• maximize student learning by incorporating small-group teaching and tutoring 
• identify and address individual students’ social, emotional, and behavioral learning needs and barriers 
• identify and address individual students’ development of organizational and time-management skills
• invest students in their learning using a variety of influence techniques
• incorporate questioning and discussion in teaching
• monitor and analyze student assessment data to inform engaging instruction and small-group teaching and tutoring 
• communicate with students and keep them informed of their progress

Professional Responsibilities

• Solicit and eagerly receive feedback from supervisor and team members to improve professional skills
• Lead team to maintain regular communication with families, and work collaboratively with them to design learning both at home and at school, and to encourage a home life conducive to learning success
• Organize and schedule team time to ensure alignment of instructional vision, prioritize small-group teaching and tutoring in all classrooms, and troubleshoot students’ persistent learning challenges
• Determine how students spend instructional time based on strengths of all adults on the team
• Allocate instructional process elements (lesson planning, minimal large-group instruction, a focus on small-group instruction, individual interventions, data analysis, grading, etc.) among team based on strengths, content knowledge, and professional development goals
• Allocate non-instructional administrative duties among team 
• Model instructional tasks to aid team development
• Clarify and adjust team members’ roles and provide feedback, developmental advice, and assignments to develop their effectiveness
• Participate in professional development opportunities at school

Qualifications

• Knowledge of subject matter being taught
• Bachelor’s degree
• Valid teaching certificate (optional, depending on school context and legal requirements)
• Prior evidence of high-growth student learning in the relevant subjects (in the top 25% compared to other teachers in a state or on national tests) 
• Ideally, experience successfully leading  a team of adults to accomplish goals, though not necessarily as formal leader
• Demonstrated effectiveness working with people who have differing cultural backgrounds and/or personal characteristics, including race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or economic differences. Preference given for experience working successfully with those of similar demographics to the desired school placement.

 Preferred Qualifications:

• Master’s degree
• Undergraduate GPA of 3.0 and above
• Three years of teaching experience and results demonstrating high student achievement and significant growth preferred

• Evidence of ongoing professional development and/or continuing education

Praxis Information:

• For upcoming Praxis test dates please visit the website at www.ets.org/praxis
• For HQ requirements visit http://osse.dc.gov

Curriculum Information

To learn more about our curriculum, consider the following links:

• ELA - https://greatminds.org/english/witwisdom 
  • 9-12 ELA - Springboard - https://collegeboard.clickhelp.co/articles/#!springboard-digital-support/welcome-to-springboard-digital
• Math - https://greatminds.org/math/eurekamath 
  • 9-12 Math - Pre-AP - https://pre-ap.collegeboard.org/
• Science - https://www.foss-science.com/a-multimodal-approach/ 
  • Science 9-12 - NGSS - https://www.nextgenscience.org/ 
  • Project Lead the Way - https://www.pltw.org/
• Social Studies - SS/History State Standards

 FPCS’s policy is to provide equal employment opportunity to all qualified applicants and employees regardless of their race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, genetic information, veteran status, status as a special disabled veteran, or any other protected criteria as established by federal, state, or local laws.  This policy applies to recruitment and hiring, training, promotion, compensation, benefits, transfer, layoff, termination and all other terms and conditions of employment.  Employment decisions at FPCS are based solely upon relevant criteria, including an individual’s capabilities, qualifications, training, experience and suitability.