What are the responsibilities and job description for the Reading Specialist/Interventionist position at Sulphur Springs Independent School District?
Job Title: Reading Specialist/Interventionist
Exemption Status/Test: Exempt
Reports to: Building Principal
Contract Period: Full Time
Dept./School: As Assigned
Date Revised: April 2025
Primary Purpose: Accelerate learning to close achievement and opportunity gaps and ensure a college-ready foundation for every scholar by delivering rigorous instruction to scholars in order to promote intellectual, social, and emotional growth and ensure that regardless of socioeconomic factors, every child is prepared to positively contribute to society. This purpose is embraced with urgency, determination, and perseverance.
Qualifications:
Education/Certification:
- Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university
- Valid Texas teacher certificate with required endorsements or training for subject and level assigned.
Special Knowledge/Skills:
- Demonstrated ability to work with multi-ethnic populations in a multicultural setting.
- Excellent communication (written and oral) and interpersonal skills
- Ability to work collaboratively with a diverse community, district staff members, parents, community, and the public.
- Ability to disaggregate data, develop plans of action, and lead implementation across the campus
- Bilingual fluency preferred.
Experience:
- At least two years creditable teaching experience in the content field and/or grade level preferred
Major Responsibilities and Duties:
Staff Culture
- Demonstrate high expectations through extended hours with learning opportunities for scholars as well as professional development commitments for continuous improvement
- Accelerate campus transformation through strong leadership, effective teaching, and high expectations to ensure every student develops the foundation for college readiness
- Other duties as assigned may include working in supplemental assignments under special revenue funds or state compensatory education funds
- Perform all job-related duties as assigned and in accordance with the Board rules, policies, and regulations, together with exhibiting high professionalism, standards of conduct and work ethic. All employees are expected to comply with lawful directives in rare situations driven by need where a team effort is required
- Attend and participate in school events during and outside of regular school hours
- Contribute ideas, work on committees, collaborate with peers, participate in curriculum development and revision activities as appropriate, and attend district and campus professional development activities demonstrating a commitment to personal and professional growth and development
- Maintain accurate and efficient record-keeping of official attendance records, grade reports, student files, documentation of state and local assessment preparation, and other appropriate documents
- Perform essential functions and roles pertaining to testing, including monitoring and proctoring tests, securing, and disseminating test data, combined with maintaining current and accurate records of student test data
- Exhibits a personal interest and enthusiasm for literacy to support the teaching literacy and encourage learning around literacy
- Uses literacy strategies that are sensitive to the multiple experiences and diversity of scholars and that allow for different ways of demonstrating learning
- Helps student to persevere in order to understand and use their literacy skills fluently, effectively, and meaningfully
Effective Instruction
- Support the coordination of the literacy development programming on the campus
- Coach and model district recommended literacy strategies and initiatives
- Collaborate, coordinate, and communicate with administrators and teachers regularly to assist with analyzing instructional materials, teacher, and student performance data to help identify student specific literacy needs in collaborative planning and professional learning communities
- Collaborate to provide professional learning opportunities aligned with the district and campus literacy practices to support purposeful literacy practices across the campus
- Collaborate with peers to incorporate literacy strategies, and build academic language skills to improve reading comprehension in all grade levels and across all subject areas
- Facilitate literacy based small groups of scholars to provide remediation, intervention and/or enrichment that accommodate individual needs of scholars
- Support planning and classroom implementation of literacy instruction and assessments using the district curriculum and research-based reading instruction, intervention, and content-based strategies
- Stay abreast of emerging technologies, current research, knowledge, and best practices to integrate technology into the literacy curriculum to maximize student outcomes (i.e., intervention, assessment, enrichment, blended learning; flipped classrooms; etc.)
- Displays extensive content knowledge of all the subjects with an emphasis on reading, teaches the district curriculum, utilizing well-designed lesson plans and rigorous instruction combined with curriculum activities and instructional objectives that are standards-based, measurable, and accelerate the transfer of learning and knowledge while proactively developing teaching techniques to mitigate misunderstandings in a comprehensive literacy approach
- Assess and document student mastery of curriculum objectives and student progress utilizing frequent, appropriate, on-going, and multiple assessment tools like Amplify, NWEA (MAP), IXL, running records, etc. and through, and formal procedures, including standardized tests, formative assessments, performance tasks, enrichments, and observations
- Monitor student progress daily while providing feedback and adjust instructional strategies and materials to provide differentiated instruction, address individual needs of scholars and maintain student engagement targeting literacy specific instructional needs
- Develop and maintain literacy intervention plans for scholars and use the data to support teachers in developing differentiated core instructional lessons based individual student literacy needs
- Develop instructional activities, resources, technology, and instructional materials that are all aligned to instructional purposes, are varied and appropriate to ability levels of scholars and actively engage them in ownership of their learning while providing opportunities for enrichments, and differentiations provide for collaboration, creative thinking, and extended interaction among scholars in literacy-based learning
Student Culture
- Establish and utilize effective routines, transitions, and procedures that primarily rely on student leadership and responsibility
- The classroom is safe and thoughtfully designed to engage, challenge, and inspire scholars to participate in high-level learning beyond the learning objectives
- Execute and maintain appropriate student-centered discipline techniques and effective classroom management strategies to maximize student learning and time-on-task
Parent Engagement
- Engage parents and families in the academic and behavioral progress of their child by initiating parent conferences, home visits, and providing opportunities for parents to continually support student learning and school programs
- Establish relationships with families and community and use language that is respectful and all-inclusive when speaking about scholars, their families, and the community
- Collaborates with families, school teachers and staff, and other professionals to promote student growth and development in literacy
Mental Demands/Physical Demands/Environmental Factors:
Tools/Equipment Used: Personal computer and peripherals; standard instructional equipment; [P.E. teachers: automated external defibrillator (AED)]
Posture: Prolonged standing; frequent kneeling/squatting, bending/stooping, pushing/pulling, and twisting
Motion: Frequent walking
Lifting: Regular light lifting and carrying (less than 15 pounds); may lift and move textbooks and classroom equipment
Environment: Work inside, may work outside; regular exposure to noise
Mental Demands: Maintain emotional control under stress; work prolonged or irregular hours
