Manager, Digital Curriculum - Multilingual Education

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is one of the largest school districts in the United States, serving over 320,000 students in 600+ schools and employing nearly 40,000 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.

Located within the Office of Teaching and Learning, the Department of Curriculum, Instruction, and Digital Learning (CIDL) is implementing the Curriculum Equity Initiative : a comprehensive support system for teachers with a modern, digital curriculum at its core.

Once implemented, this digital curriculum will provide CPS students and teachers with access to high-quality, engaging, and culturally responsive learning materials.

Job Summary :

Under the direction of the Director of Digital Curriculum, the Manager of Digital Curriculum will oversee a curriculum design team spanning multiple content areas and will work collaboratively with stakeholders, including subject matter experts (SMEs) and contracted partners, to ensure consistency and high quality across PreK-12 curricular materials.

Additionally, this position will manage Spanish Language Arts (SLA) curriculum development, continuous improvement of multilingual supports across the Skyline curriculum, and the Spanish translations for all Skyline curricular resources.

The Manager, Digital Curriculum will be held accountable for the following responsibilities :

• Manage, lead, and develop a high-functioning team of curriculum designers responsible for the development and continuous improvement of CPS digital curriculum over multiple content areas and grade bands
• Contribute to strategic planning around digital curriculum design and curriculum initiatives to support a district-wide vision for teaching and learning
• Collaborate with other Digital Curriculum Managers through centralized meeting structures to ensure curricular supports reflect a coherent vision for teaching and learning across content areas
• Facilitate regular meetings with Curriculum Designers and other Teaching & Learning team members to identify priority areas for continuous improvement of the Skyline curriculum
• Support the development, revision, and maintenance of a district-wide Curriculum Development a Guidebook and curriculum-related guidance / tools for schools, networks and central office teams that articulate the following as it relates to each respective content area :
• The rubrics and evidence guides that define high-quality, culturally responsive curriculum (instructional and assessment)
• The standards and frameworks that define high-quality, culturally responsive curriculum (instructional and assessment)
• Leverage inputs from multiple sources to develop, maintain and fulfill the Curriculum Development Guidebook specifications for curriculum associated with the respective content areas
• Oversee the development and continuous improvement of PreK-12 Skyline courses, supporting Curriculum Designer success on efforts including :
• Management of the curriculum review and feedback process, including coordination of teacher review teams, consensus building, conflict resolution, planning, and decision-making.
• Ensuring vertical and horizontal coherence and alignments across the PK-12 curricular resources (instructional and assessment)
• Ensuring that each PreK-12 course meets the same high standards of cultural responsivity, support for English learners, support for Diverse Learners, and social-emotional learning components
• Ensuring that each PreK-12 course reflects the tenants of digital learning, including interactivity and access to digital resources that expand the size of the classroom, media literacy, and digital citizenship
• Developing a deep understanding of PreK-12 teachers’ unique needs in each respective content area and serve as a champion for stakeholders (i.

e., teachers, students, families)

• Oversee the administration of Curriculum Collaborative Steering Committees
• Demonstrate flexibility and creativity in supporting the design and continuous improvement of the curriculum.
• Advise the teams supporting systems integration and UX to ensure a seamless, useful experience for teachers, students and parents.
• Collaborate effectively and extensively with internal and external partners, including content and specialty teams across CPS’ Academic Offices, to ensure Chicago’s curriculum is developed in accordance with all articulated quality standards.
• Serve as CIDL liaison and expert to Skyline stakeholders both internal and external on issues / opportunities related to digital curriculum
• Support the fulfillment of all contractual obligations and promote best practices in vendor relationship management.
• Inform the design and support the implementation of the curriculum evaluation framework and evaluation program for Skyline
• Keep abreast of the current trends and best practices in pedagogy with digital curriculum and represent the district as an expert on these and other (related) topics.
• Support the budget processes for vendors, miscellaneous employees, and teachers supporting the curriculum
• Other duties and work streams as assigned.

In order to be successful and achieve the above responsibilities, the Manager, Digital Curriculum must possess the following qualifications :

Education Required :

• Bachelor’s degree in Spanish and / or Multilingual / Bilingual Education (with Bilingual Endorsement), is required. Bachelor’s degree focus in Education may be considered if an advanced degree in Spanish Multilingual education has been obtained
• Valid teaching certificate issued by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) with appropriate grade level and content endorsement, including Bilingual endorsement, is required.

Candidates with a valid out-of-state, reciprocal license will be considered, but must obtain ISBE licensure within 6 months of hire.)

Master’s degree preferred

Experience Required :

• Minimum of five (5) years of professional experience in K-12 education, including the following, is required :
• Minimum of three (3) years of classroom teaching experience
• Minimum of three (3) years of experience in a role responsible for designing / developing curriculum
• Minimum of three (3) years of teacher leadership experience, such as leading school teams in the development of curriculum and assessment, analyzing student performance data, etc.
• Experience leading a high-functioning team within the content area focus (including external vendors and / or non-instructional teacher work)
• Experience with program management or managing others, such as external vendors, and / or non-instructional teacher work
• Experience with strategic planning to shape the cross-content district-wide curriculum strategy
• Experience with educational technology and tech-integrated classrooms or instructional environments
• Minimum of three (3) years of experience in a management position leading a team of direct reports, preferred

Other Requirements :

Bilingual fluency in English and Spanish is required

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities :

• Strong knowledge of :
• ELA Common Core Standards
• SLA Standards
• WIDA ELD Standards
• principles for curriculum design
• principles for instructional design
• MTSS and SEL best practices
• Expertise in planning, designing, facilitating, and evaluating curriculum
• Deep knowledge / understanding of curriculum design and instructional best practices
• Excellent leadership development and instructional leadership skills; capable of coaching directors and managers toward excellence, building the capacity of content area teams and developing meaningful and high-impact professional communities for teachers and school leaders
• Exceptional organizational skills; ability to effectively manage several work streams simultaneously
• Commitment to CPS Instructional Core Vision, and ensuring that all students have access to grade-level, standards-aligned learning opportunities
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills; comfortable collaborating and communicating across a diverse range of audiences, including network teams, principals, teachers, and support staff
• Capable of facilitating group processes in consensus building, conflict resolution, planning, and decision-making
• Effective strategic planning capabilities, including the ability to establish long-term vision and goals, and align / manage activities toward goal fulfillment
• Strong knowledge of instructional technology theory and practice, teaching and learning processes, practices and research, and professional learning practices and standards.
• Knowledge of educational standards, including Common Core State Standards, NGSS, MTSS, and WIDA ELD standards.
• Knowledge of and commitment to decentralized decision-making and accountability for results.
• Ability to lead and effectively communicate with culturally and educationally diverse teams to focus resources (both human and financial) toward the achievement of expected results.
• Ability to build collaborative relationships with a variety of constituent groups, including external partners, to ensure the entire system operates in the most effective manner possible
• Strong leadership and team-building skills, e.g. ability to effectively lead and develop high-performing teams united around a clear vision for serving schools and educators and achieving student success
• Demonstrate high levels of instructional expertise, integrity, honesty, credibility, and the courage to make difficult yet necessary decisions

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.

This Chicago residency requirement does not apply to part-time / temporary 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.