Options School Redesign Implementation Manager

The Project

The Chicago Public Schools (CPS) has set ambitious goals to ensure that every child -- in every school and in every neighborhood -- has access to a world-class learning experience from birth, resulting in graduation from high school ready for success in college, career, and life.

Over the last several years, CPS students' growth rate in academics have been among the highest in the country, and the graduation rates have been increasing steadily over the past decade. And yet we know these gains are not equitably distributed across all students. Among high school students in CPS, approximately 1 in 9 touch an Options School at some point during the academic year. Students in Options Schools are more likely to be eligible for free and reduced lunch, have an individualized education plan, experience homelessness or housing instability, have been victimized, and be justice involved. In Options Schools, the graduation rate hovers around 35%, less than half of what it is in non-Options CPS schools, suggesting that the current programmatic response does not adequately address the varying needs of its students.

Chicago Public Schools and the University of Chicago Education Lab are collaborating to develop a comprehensive strategy to design, implement and evaluate how CPS can continue to better serve students in Options Schools. This innovative approach will not only impact Chicago students, but has the potential to inform cities around the country struggling with serving this population.

Position Overview

The Options School Redesign Implementation Manager will be responsible for supporting the development and leading the implementation of student, school and district level initiatives, systems, and supports to ensure that Options School students receive high-quality supports across academic instruction, socioemotional supports, and postsecondary pathways. This individual will report to the Project Director of the Options Redesign in the Children First Fund, closely collaborating with the Options School Leadership in the Office of Innovation and Incubation. This position will be grant funded through the Children First Fund through 2021 with the option for the role to become permanent.

The Role

The Chicago Public Schools seeks a full-time Implementation Manager to oversee the effort to ensure that Options Schools students receive high-quality support across academic instruction, social-emotional supports, and postsecondary pathways.

The Implementation Manager will:

• Play a key role in the creation of new processes, policies, systems, and models for Options Schools.
  
  
• During the 2019/2020 school year, manage the pilot of interventions in 9 partner schools:
  
  
  • Lead in the creation and implementation of an innovative Student Support Team structure ensuring schools are leveraging student centered relationships and data to best support students.
    
    
  • Oversee and troubleshoot the day to day operations of the redesign pilot interventions; serving as a resource to partner schools as well as community partners.
    
    
• In subsequent years, manage the scaling of interventions and models that have the most promising evidence of impacting outcomes for Options Students.
  
  
• Serve as a liaison between CPS and all redesign partners including non profits, city agencies, and schools.
  
  
• Serve as the CPS coordinator the Student Advisory Committee and the Community Advisory Committee for the Options Redesign project, including co--creating agendas and facilitating meetings.
  
  
• Provide administrative support to all components of the redesign project
  
  
• Understand and support research efforts to learn from CPS investments.
  
  
• Serve as a point of contact for the Education Lab through the Children's First Fund
  
  
• Ensure that all grant milestones are achieved
  
  

Competencies

• A deep understanding of, and demonstrated commitment to education equity.
  
  
• Outstanding interpersonal skills and the ability to develop and maintain positive relationships with a broad array of partners.
  
  
• Ability to take an idea and operationalize it into a concrete, realistic plan.
  
  
• Ability to work with broad and sometimes vague directions and make them concrete in partnership with team members.
  
  
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to present complex ideas in a simple and straightforward way for non-technical audiences required.
  
  
• Demonstrated ability to exercise sound judgment required. Self-starter who can anticipate problems and develop preemptive solutions.
  
  
• Ability to work independently in a fast-paced, ever changing environment.
  
  

• Passionate about making a material impact in the lives of students.
  
  

Education and Experience Required

• Experience in and knowledge of school culture and climate, student engagement, instructional strategies, and/or postsecondary readiness.
  
  
• Track record of creating and implementing systems, protocols, and tools within a school setting.
  
  
• Experience facilitating, training, and/or coaching adult stakeholders.
  
  
• At least three years of experience managing projects and initiatives that included stakeholders from multiple departments or organizations.
  
  
• At least two years of experiencing managing full-time employee.
  
  
• Bachelor's degree in public policy, education, social work or a closely related field required
  
  
• Previous experience working with a research study preferred
  
  

Residency Requirement

As a condition of employment with the Chicago Public Schools (CPS), employees are required to live within the geographic boundaries of the City of Chicago within six months of his or her CPS hire date and maintain residency throughout their employment with the district.