Science Assessment Support (Part-Time/Temporary Role)

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is one of the largest school districts in the United States, serving over 330,000 students in 600+ schools and employing nearly 36,000 people, most of them teachers.

CPS has set ambitious goals to ensure that every student, in every school and every neighborhood, has access to a world-class learning experience that prepares each for success in college, career, and civic life.

In order to fulfill this mission, we make three commitments to our students, their families, and all Chicagoans : academic progress, financial stability, and integrity.

Six core values are embedded within these commitments student-centered, whole child, equity, academic excellence, community partnership, and continuous learning.

The Department of Curriculum, Instruction, and Digital Learning is leading the Curriculum Equity Initiative (CEI) - a comprehensive Pre-K through 12th-grade curriculum and digital ecosystem.

Launched in July 2021, Skyline - the district’s first standards-aligned, culturally responsive, digital PreK-12 curriculum - provides CPS students and teachers with access to high-quality, engaging learning materials.

The part-time / temporary Science Assessment Support position will assist with developing the end-of-unit assessment content for K-12 Science to support the existing district curriculum.

This is a part-time / temporary position that will be compensated for time worked on an hourly basis. The work schedule for this role will consist of an estimated 15-30 hours per week for an anticipated period of 6-10 months beginning in Summer 2023 and ending in Spring 2024.

This support position will report to the Manager of Digital Curriculum and / or the Assessment Program Manager.

The part-time / temporary Science Assessment Support position will be held accountable for the following responsibilities :

• Work within the Chicago Public Schools Science curriculum guidebook and rubrics, and assessment design guidelines, as well as the NGSS framework, to design Science multidimensional end-of-unit assessments that measure student mastery of prioritized Performance Expectations (PEs) and associated domains (Science & Engineering Practices, Cross Cutting Concepts, and Disciplinary Core Ideas).
• Assist with the development of high-quality end-of-unit assessments using provided templates, including :
• Ensuring assessment design meets end-of-unit assessment design guidance
• Working with the drafted assessment blueprints (including Next Generation Science Standards PEs and associated domains)
• Identifying and incorporating culturally relevant, grade-level phenomena that allow for assessment of the identified PEs
• Applying best practices in item and test development, including standards interpretation to create item-based assessments with teacher and computer-scored items, as well as performance-based assessments such as creating models
• Developing assessment rubrics and / or item rationales to help guide item scoring and use of assessment data to inform instructional adjustments
• Collaborate with Content team members, colleagues from the Department of Curriculum Instruction and Digital Learning, and the Department of Student Assessment & MTSS to ensure assessment materials created meet the design guidelines necessary to support the outlined purpose and use
• Other duties as assigned

In order to be successful and achieve the above responsibilities, the part-time / temporary Science Assessment Support position must possess the following qualifications :

Education Required :

• Bachelor’s Degree in Science or a related Science discipline from an accredited college or university is required
• Master’s Degree in the field of Education preferred
• Illinois (or reciprocal) Teaching Certificate preferred

Experience Required :

• Minimum of five (5) years of experience writing and developing science curriculum, including the following, is required :
• Experience writing culturally relevant, grade-level, inquiry-based assessments
• Experience designing standards-aligned item- and performance-based assessments
• Three (3) years of experience teaching science in a large, urban setting, strongly preferred

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities :

• Deep knowledge of equity issues in education and a commitment to providing access to high-quality, Science digital curriculum for all students
• Strong knowledge of the following :
• Best practices for NGSS, 3-dimensional, phenomenon-based science teaching and learning
• Strong knowledge of assessment design best practices, including PE alignment, phenomenon-identification, item development, rubric and rationale creation.
• The Skyline Science Curriculum that has been previously published on the Knowledge Center (preferred)
• WIDA ELD Standards (preferred)
• Understanding by Design principles for curriculum design
• Universal Design for Learning principles for instructional design
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills and effective problem-solving skills / strategies
• Capable of collaborating with culturally and educationally diverse teams.

Conditions of Employment

As a condition of employment with the Chicago Public Schools (CPS), employees are required to :

Establish / Maintain Chicago Residency - Employees are required to live within the geographic boundaries of the City of Chicago within six months of their CPS hire date and maintain residency throughout their employment with the district.

The Chicago residency requirement does not apply to temporary / part-time positions, however, all CPS employees must be residents of Illinois.

Be Fully Vaccinated Against COVID-19 - Unless approved for a medical or religious exemption, all employees are required to be up-to-date on COVID-19 vaccinations, including boosters, and to submit proof of vaccination to the district within 30 days of hire.

Up-to-date on vaccination is defined as being at least two weeks past all primary vaccine doses and any applicable boosters.