Literacy Coordinator 25/26 SY

WELCOME TO INDIANAPOLIS PUBLIC SCHOOLS!

At IPS, we believe in the transformative power of education. We work collectively every day to prepare our students for success in the classroom and in life by providing equitable, high-quality educational experiences across our family of schools. IPS is a place to make an impact, grow your career, and ensure every student has access to a high quality education, all while earning a good living in a district on the move. While the work is challenging, it is deeply meaningful and impactful. We seek innovators and trailblazers who bring varying experiences and expertise and share our belief that every child deserves access to an exceptional education. As part of TeamIPS, you’ll create lasting connections, find a sense of belonging, and feel supported to make a meaningful difference in students’ lives.

In return, no matter your role here, we expect a commitment to excellence and accountability. You’ll be held to high standards. Resilience and passion are key—you must be adaptable, handling adversity with flexibility while putting students at the heart of everything you do. Ethical conduct, clear communication, and mutual respect are fundamental. Being a dependable, collaborative team player who builds meaningful relationships is essential.

Together, we are Proving What’s Possible by building a community where everyone belongs and each student has the opportunity to fulfill their potential.

A Career in IPS Offers…

Purpose and Impact:

• Essential Contributions: In every non-teaching and non-leadership role, your work directly supports the success of IPS students and schools. Whether you’re maintaining facilities, providing student services, or managing administrative operations, you play a key part in ensuring an equitable and high-quality educational environment.
• Belonging and Community: IPS is a place where every employee is valued. You’ll join a supportive community that promotes respect, teamwork, and a shared commitment to serving students and families.

Professional and Personal Growth:

• Training and Development Opportunities: IPS offers a variety of training programs to help staff build new skills and grow professionally. This includes access to development opportunities for administrative, technical, and operational roles, as well as pathways to becoming a certified teacher.
• Skill Enhancement: Whether you’re new to your role or seeking to deepen your expertise, IPS provides resources and support for continuous improvement.

Comprehensive Compensation and Benefits:

• Fair Compensation: IPS ensures competitive wages and regularly reviews pay structures to maintain equity.
• Extensive Benefits Package: Employees enjoy comprehensive health coverage, dental and vision plans, life insurance, disability insurance, and retirement plans. Additional financial benefits include flexible spending accounts and eligibility for federal loan forgiveness programs.

Work-Life Balance and Well-being:

• Generous Leave Policies: IPS offers vacation, personal, and sick leave, along with paid holidays. Twelve-month employees benefit from floating holidays, and unused personal leave rolls into the sick leave balance.
• Wellness Programs: IPS prioritizes staff well-being with access to wellness initiatives, including health screenings and an employee assistance program for confidential support and counseling.

What We Expect:

• Professionalism and Reliability: Every role at IPS is vital to the district’s success. We expect staff to demonstrate professionalism, dependability, and a commitment to providing excellent service to students, educators, and families.
• Collaboration and Communication: IPS values teamwork. Working collaboratively with your colleagues ensures a supportive environment for all. Clear communication and mutual respect are key to maintaining this culture.
• Flexibility and Problem-Solving: As a large, dynamic district, IPS needs staff who are adaptable and proactive in solving problems to meet the ever-changing needs of students and schools.

JOIN US!

Indianapolis Public Schools is more than a workplace; it’s a community where purpose, impact, and belonging come together to help Prove What’s Possible – in your career and in your school. If you’re ready to embrace challenges, strive for excellence, and make a meaningful impact, IPS is the place for you.

SUMMARY OF OPPORTUNITY:

The Literacy and Humanities Coordinator is the instructional leader in the area of English Language Arts (ELA), Reading, and Social Studies. This is a full-time, 12 month position and will report directly to the Executive Director of Teaching and Learning. This person will also work closely with School Leaders (SLs) and Assistant Principals (APs) at all schools to ensure that our schools maintain vertical and horizontal curriculum alignment for rigorous, college-ready reading, writing and general literacy instruction. They will also ensure our district has a strong vision for Civics and Social Studies for the district. The Literacy and Humanities Coordinator will support the creation, implementation, and assessment of a rigorous, college-preparatory program for all students. The Literacy and Humanities Coordinator serves as the main Literacy and Humanities point of contact between schools and the district Senior Academic Leadership Team.

Other duties as assigned by the Executive Director of Teaching and Learning.

Qualifications

This role provides privileged access to the inner workings between Academics and supports for school leaders and teachers. The successful candidate will be discrete, high-energy, agile-minded, strategic, proactive, a direct communicator, highly-organized and committed to the vision and values of Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS).

Personal Work Relationships:

The individual in this position works with a wide range of IPS staff, partners, administrators and service providers on routine and diverse problems encountered to fulfill its duties. The individual must possess and employ a variety of personal and interpersonal skills in the discharge of the position’s responsibilities. This position requires a positive attitude when dealing with staff and IPS constituents. Good judgment, discretion and individual initiative are necessary for the effective discharge of the position’s significant responsibilities.

WHAT YOU’LL DO:

Essential Duties/Responsibilities:

We are looking for amazing people who have diverse backgrounds and experiences, are inspired by our vision and are energized by investing in academic improvement. You’ll be right at home here if you learn from failure and overcome adversity, cultivate strong relationships, and push yourself, your work and the people around you to the next level.

We expect the Literacy and Humanities Coordinator to:

• 
  Be a strong strategic and analytical thinker. You are a natural problem solver who can efficiently grasp and act on a big picture, quickly analyze the root causes and define new ways forward. Your ability to chart a clear course, juggle many tasks and priorities, and work efficiently in a fast-paced environment will bring clarity to the complex projects you lead.

• 
  Embrace a fast-moving organization. Deadlines, changing priorities and new projects don’t overwhelm you or the quality of your work. Instead, they inspire you to rise to the occasion. Your planning will be the backbone of an efficient and productive team. The team will look to you to establish systems, develop project plans, and support implementation. You will manage up and across different pieces of work to ensure the team meets goals.
  

• Deliver crisp, clean messages. Whether in writing or on the phone, your communications are articulate and concise. You understand your audience and know how to deliver inspiring messages and tough news with ease and tactful finesse.

• 
  Partner with education leaders. You’ll regularly interact with stakeholders, motivating them to make incremental change and take quantum leaps.
• Be willing to step up to the plate. You’re eager to contribute and learn, and willing to help identify solutions independently.

• 
  Have an unwavering belief that ALL children can learn. A passion for education is essential to being successful in this role.
  

WHAT YOU’ll BRING: SKILLS AND MINDSETS:

Specific Responsibilities

Specific responsibilities of the Literacy and Humanities Coordinator include but are not limited to:

Instructional Design

• Lead the instructional vision and design for the District’s Comprehensive Literacy Framework.
• Lead the instructional vision, textbook adoption, and resources for Humanities, Civics, and Social Studies instruction.
• Provide instructional resources schools and teachers can use to effectively lead teaching and learning in Literacy and Humanities instruction.
• Lead the vision of the crosswalk between ELA and Social Studies standards.

Professional Development (PD)

• Lead the development and training school-based ELA Coaches will need to support the Comprehensive Literacy Framework in schools.
• Plan, create, and implement Literacy and Social Studies professional development and be a champion of the curriculum across schools.
• Assess what types of literacy training teachers will need and work with key stakeholders to facilitate PD sessions across schools
• Facilitate sharing of literacy and humanities resources and coordinate professional development and curriculum internalization processes for all IPS staff members related to core curriculum and literacy intervention

Goal Setting/Progress Monitoring

• Work with the Data and Academics Teams, school leaders, and ELA and Social Studies point people to set numerical goals for state standardized tests and needs assessments
• Determine milestones to enable effective progress monitoring in Literacy and Social Studies
• Conduct focused observations to push content-specific instructional practices, improve implementation of curriculum, gather information on best practices and pilot new projects

Data Analysis

• Deeply analyze student achievement data (reading growth, student work samples, interim assessments and state tests) to determine how to better develop materials and provide targeted, high quality teacher training
• Facilitate the analysis of interim assessment results
• Team with schools leaders to monitor overall student achievement and communicate the need for any training, support, resources, or tools to ensure teachers are executing successfully
• Collaborate with the Director of Assessment to ensure data is easily accessible to schools and teachers.

Supervision and Management

• Supervise the district-based ELA Coaches/Specialists (3), 1 Reading Coach/Specialist, 1 Social Studies Coach/Specialist.
• Provide input and feedback on the evaluation of school-based Literacy Coaches and Literacy leads.

EDUCATION, CERTIFICATION, AND LICENSURE REQUIREMENTS:

• Hold or eligible for Indiana administrator’s license preferred
• Must be deemed Highly Qualified in accordance with the Indiana Department of Education or their last state of employment;
• Bachelor's degree required
• Deep literacy content knowledge
• At least 4 years of literacy teaching experience preferred
• Instructional coaching experience preferred
• Social Studies and/or Civics teaching in addition to Literacy instruction preferred
• Professional development facilitation experience preferred
• Outstanding organizational skills and attention to detail
• Outstanding written and oral communication skills
• Ability to manage the ambiguity and multiple priorities inherent in an entrepreneurial environment

FLSA CLASSIFICATION:

Exempt

ELIGIBILITY FOR REMOTE WORK:

Not eligible

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:

The physical requirements described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to use hands to finger, handle, or feel; talk or hear. The employee frequently is required to stand and walk. The employee is occasionally required to sit; reach with hands and arms; and stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 10 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus.

EEOC STATEMENT:

Indianapolis Public Schools, in accordance with its nondiscrimination policies, will not discriminate in its programs, facilities, or employment or educational opportunities on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, national origin or ancestry, sex, age, physical or mental disability, pregnancy, veteran or military status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, familial status, domestic violence victim status, homelessness or any other legally recognized protected basis under federal, state or local laws, regulations, or ordinances. Indianapolis Public Schools does not tolerate any form of retaliation or bias-based intimidation, threat, or harassment that demeans individuals’ dignity or interferes with their ability to learn or work.

DISCLAIMER:

Essential functions, as defined under the Americans with Disabilities Act, may include any of the above representative duties, knowledge, and skills. This job description is illustrative only, and is not a comprehensive list of all essential functions and duties performed by the occupant of this position. Factors such as regular and punctual attendance are not routinely listed in job descriptions, but are an essential function.