What are the responsibilities and job description for the Secondary Social Studies Manager of Curriculum position at KIPP?
Company Description
KIPP Texas Public Schools is a network of 59 public charter, open-enrollment, pre-k-12 schools educating nearly 34,000 students across Austin, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Houston, and San Antonio. Together with families and communities, our mission is to create joyful, academically excellent schools that prepare students with the skills and confidence to pursue the paths they choose —college, career, and beyond—so they can lead fulfilling lives and build a more just world.
Founded in Houston in 1994, and operating as KIPP Texas since 2018, our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and antiracism in our classrooms, in our offices, and in the communities we serve is unwavering. We are looking to hire a diverse team of dynamic, collaborative, and dedicated individuals with an unyielding belief that every child will succeed. Join our Team and Family and champion equity, chase excellence, persist with purpose, bring joy, and help us rise together.
KIPP Texas is part of the national KIPP network of 255 college-preparatory public charter schools in 20 states and the District of Columbia. Nationwide, KIPP students complete four-year college at a rate of 36 percent, comparable to the national average for all students and approximately three times higher than the average of students from low-income communities.
Job Description
The Manager of Curriculum role is an exciting opportunity for an individual who has deep content knowledge of Secondary Social Studies, has a passion for curriculum and instruction, leverages content-based coaching strategies and techniques to build the capacity of instructional leaders, is committed to advancing social justice and culturally relevant pedagogy, and is eager to influence the future of secondary school social studies curriculum and instruction across KIPP Texas and beyond.
The Manager of Curriculum will play a critical role at the state-level in an effort to drive improved student results by ensuring that every student has access to rigorous, excellent, grade-level curriculum that will be implemented in KIPP schools in our Houston, Austin, Dallas, and San Antonio regions.
You know you are successful if:
You are an equity-minded educator who fosters a culture of sustainable change through embedding KIPP Texas’ mission and core values and supporting anti-racism frameworks to deliver KIPP Texas transformation.
You are a social studies content knowledge expert who has a proven record of results with social studies at a school-level.
You are a detail-oriented planner who can demonstrate independence, flexibility. and resilience throughout cycles of change.
You are both persistent and adaptive in your approach to solving complex challenges across a variety of shareholders.
Key Responsibilities
The Manager of Curriculum responsibilities include but are not limited to the following:
Develop and/or adapt social studies curriculum based on feedback from the stakeholders, including course overviews, pacing calendars, unit plans, lesson plans and assessments aligned to the KIPP Texas social studies Vision.
Ensure all social studies curriculum & assessments are top-quality and aligned to a college-ready bar and Texas state standards before students engage with them.
Conduct ongoing progress monitoring and data analysis (state-wide and region-specific) to make necessary adjustments to curriculum materials.
Review social studies professional development materials for regional academic teams, instructional coaches and teachers, including unit and lesson internalization, instructional best practices, and responding to data.
Build relationships with principals, assistant principals, teachers, and regional academics teams across the state to solicit feedback on the social studies curriculum.
Collaborate with other KIPP Texas academics teams (student support services, assessment, etc.) to ensure curriculum and supporting materials are accessible for ALL students, including students with IEPs and multilingual learners.
Stay up-to-date on best practices in secondary social studies instruction and model best practices for instructional coaches as needed.
Qualifications
Required Education and/or Experience:
Bachelor’s degree required
Content and Pedagogical Expertise
Strong understanding of the college-ready bar for students in social studies, exceptionally high standards for students’ potential, and an unyielding belief that ALL students can achieve at high levels
Deep knowledge of secondary social studies (including TEKS), with a strong understanding of the full K-12 social studies continuum
Master social studies teacher (ideally at the secondary level) with proven results
Strong understanding of and prior experience with curriculum development, including but not limited to: alignment between objectives, learning experiences and assessment; principles of backwards planning; essential questions to drive inquiry
(Preferred) Experience coaching teachers and/or leaders to improve instruction through observation & feedback; can identify targeted impact statements (action steps) based on observations to improve instruction efficiently and effectively
Technical Skills
Detail oriented and obsessed with accuracy, especially in the areas of curriculum and assessments
Meets deadlines and timelines aligned to the academic calendar and needs of the organization
Ability to create own work plan and can project plan around multiple priorities and fast-paced deadlines
Able to succinctly present summaries and updates
Can work across multiple modes of communication (virtual and in-person) to impact others and achieve goals
Advanced understanding of Microsoft Office suite and (preferred) Adobe Reader and Google Drive
(Preferred but not required) Able to fluently navigate Wheatley social studies, Illuminate and Tableau, or other similar assessment and data analytics platforms
Communication, Interpersonal and Team Skills
Builds and maintains strong relationships across a variety of levels and stakeholders
Strong verbal and written communication skills; tailors message for the audience, context, and mode of communication
Builds consensus and resolves conflicts; exhibits willingness to have difficult conversations
Skillfully navigates systems and structures at various levels in a large district
Comfortable with ambiguity and can translate abstract ideas into concrete work plans and products
Problem Solving and Systems-Level Thinking
Understands how various systems, departments, shareholders and stakeholders interact to achieve short and long term goals
Makes decisions using data and takes initiative to solve problems and create stakeholder buy-in
Exhibits flexibility and a solutions-oriented mindset when faced with shifting priorities, demands, and timelines
Identifies and prioritizes mission-critical issues and offers innovative solutions to seemingly intractable problems
Exhibits consistent focus on goals and results and sets clear metrics for success
Leadership Skills
Motivates, inspires, and moves other adults to action to achieve ambitious goals
Builds coalitions and works collaboratively with diverse stakeholders at all levels, including but not limited to state leaders, regional leaders, school leaders, coaches, teachers and students
Establishes clear expectations, deliverables and deadlines across organizational layers
Empathy and Commitment to Cause
Deep belief in the mission and values of KIPP and commitments to improving student achievement
Passionately believes that all students can achieve at high levels
Demonstrates cultural competencies and a deep understanding of and empathy for issues facing students
Additional Information
Compensation and Benefits
As a full-time KIPP Texas employee you are eligible to participate in all KIPP Texas’ benefit plans. KIPP Texas offers a robust variety of benefits choices with competitive rates, including medical, dental, and vision options, life insurance, and disability plans.
KIPP provides equal employment opportunities for all applicants and employees. As an equal opportunity employer, we hire without consideration of race, religion, creed, color, national origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status, or disability.
