Assistant Director of Equity-Centered Professional Learning and Facilitation

The Department of Middle and Secondary Education at Georgia State University invites applications for the position of Assistant Director of Equity-Centered Professional Learning and Facilitation within the CREATE Teacher Residency Program (titled Collaboration and Reflection to Enhance Atlanta Teacher Effectiveness), a partnership between Georgia State University and Atlanta Public Schools. This program serves teacher candidates from the university as they move into the field of teaching at Atlanta Public Schools (APS), with an overall goal of supporting critically conscious, compassionate, skilled educators who are committed to practices of teaching that prioritize racial justice and interrupt inequities in schools. CREATE approaches this work with 3 goals in mind: (1) recruiting and supporting new teachers who want to start and stay in APS schools, (2) developing teacher leaders and supporting the learning of veteran educators in APS/CREATE schools, and (3) addressing systemic induction challenges through deeper GSU-APS-community collaboration. This is a limited-term, grant-funded position (US Department of Education, Supporting Effective Educator Development grant), with a start date of Summer (preferred) or Fall 2021. Funding is expected through Summer 2023, with possibility of extension for two additional years.

The Assistant Director of Equity-Centered Professional Learning and Facilitation will work primarily in Goal 2 above – supporting veteran educator development. Primary responsibilities include overall management of veteran educator professional learning and facilitation within the CREATE program. More specifically, the Assistant Director will focus their work in three areas:

Manage all professional learning for veteran educators working in CREATE schools, as follows

• Facilitate, co-facilitate, and/or manage facilitation of all existing professional learning institutes for CREATE educators, including
• Equity-Centered Critical Friendship (4 day and 8 week institutes)
• CBCT-based Power, Presence, and Impact (4 day and 8 week institutes)
• Cultivating Equity Leadership (1-3 day institute)
• Equity Educators in Action (1 and 4 week institutes)
• Equity Facilitation Fellowship (9 month program)
• Equity Evening Meetings (monthly meetings)
• Co-design and implement a new professional learning institute for veteran educators centered on culturally responsive/relevant/sustaining pedagogies and abolitionist teaching practices
• Draw on current research to further refine racial-justice, liberatory, compassion-based frameworks and curriculum used to guide professional development institutes, ensuring program coherence and scaffolds for educators within and across institutes
• Support the administrative work associated with veteran educator institutes, including budget management, registration processes, participant tracking, etc.
• Work with CREATE research staff to design formative assessments that will inform program improvement and meet overall research goals associated with the CREATE project

Design customized, equity-centered supports and programming for CREATE schools and others in the district, as follows:

• Conduct regular meetings with school principals to understand school-level equity, compassion, and racial-justice initiatives, to determine how CREATE professional learning institutes can support that work
• In collaboration with school leaders, design, propose, and manage implementation of additional customized programs for individual CREATE schools, to include equity-centered critical friendship work at the school level, racial affinity groups for teachers, work with parents on racial justice initiatives, etc.
• Design and manage veteran educator supports and/or institutes for non-CREATE schools in the district, as needed/requested by district leaders

Mentor and coach CREATE personnel on equity-centered facilitation methods and strategies, as follows:

• Mentor and coach all full-time CREATE faculty and staff, as needed, in their development as teachers educators committed to deep equity and racial justice work through their facilitation of coursework, coaching, institutes, academies, and resident “together time” meetings
• Mentor and coach CREATE-trained, school-based equity facilitators and facilitators-in-training through personal development in the service of professional systemic transformation of structural oppression within their schools and district
• Co-design and/or facilitate CREATE whole team meetings, with an eye on equity and justice as it relates to internal team operations, etc

Preferred Hiring Qualifications: The successful applicant will have a doctoral degree in education or related field, though we will consider applicants with a master’s degree and extensive years of experience doing equity-centered work with teachers. The applicant must have deep expertise in the area of educational equity, social justice teacher education, and anti-racist teaching and facilitation practices for teachers, school leaders, and/or within organizations. Applicants should have extensive experience facilitating teacher professional learning and/or coaching adults in their development as equity-centered facilitators, particularly with a racially diverse group of teachers and leaders. Applicants with expertise in social emotional learning and who demonstrate a successful record of facilitating deep conversations centered on educational equity, race, and oppressive practices in schools and within equity-centered organizations are preferred. Applicants with experience developing innovative systems of support for veteran teachers, are particularly welcome.

Special Instructions: 

To be considered for this position, please apply here: https://gsu.taleo.net/careersection/jobdetail.ftl?job=21000558&lang=en

You will need to provide the following documents:

• A complete and accurate GSU application
• Resume
• Cover letter
• List of three professional references

Please note, Georgia State University’s career board updates daily and requisitions are subject to be removed without prior notice or before the posting expires. Georgia State University is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate against applicants due to race, ethnicity, gender, veteran status, or on the basis of disability or any other federal, state or local protected class.