English Learner (EL) Program Specialist

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 approximately 44,000 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.  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 Office of Multilingual-Multicultural Education (OMME) guides CPS in providing a high-quality education for all language learners attentive to a culturally and linguistically diverse community of students, families, and educators. OMME aims to achieve its mission through strategic planning, collaborative partnerships, professional development, and the production of tools and resources to improve instruction.

Job Summary: 

Reporting to the EL Program Equity Manager and under the direction of OMME Leadership, the EL Program Specialist supports developing programs and instructional practices for English Learners to drive their academic achievement,  enhancing and improving English Learners’  learning experience across the district. This position focuses on building capacity among various stakeholders, providing instructional support, and contributing to developing and implementing high-quality instruction for ELs in grades PreK-12.

The EL Program Specialist will be held accountable for the following responsibilities:

1) Conduct EL Program Reviews to determine current state and report findings to ensure program compliance, including but not limited to:

• EL identification and placement
• Establishment of appropriate programs, including teachers’ licensure and endorsement information, and appropriate student placement and assessment
• Instructional materials, professional learning around ELs, monitoring EL student progress, EL parent involvement, student records, and services for ELs with Individualized Education Plans (IEPs)

2) Co-develop action plans in collaboration with administrators, teacher leaders, and network teams

3) Collaborate with intra-office, district office, and school-based leadership to drive data-informed planning for programmatic and instructional improvement for English learners in alignment with continuous school improvement 

4) Provide differentiated instructional and programmatic supporting by consulting and collaborating with Principals, Assistant Principals, school-based Instructional Leadership Teams, EL teacher leaders, and Network leadership to develop data-informed strategies to support the effective development and improvement of EL programs and appropriate EL services and instruction at schools, aligned with federal and state law and local mandates

5) Lead and support EL programmatic initiatives and collaborate with CPS offices to provide EL considerations and support, actively participating in district-wide professional learning and initiatives

6) Design and lead professional development around EL programs, design, and improvement for EL teacher leaders and administrators

7) Other duties as assigned

To be successful and achieve the above responsibilities, the EL Program Specialist must possess the following qualifications:
Education Required:

• Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university in Education, Bilingual Education, ESL, or a related field of study required
• Valid Professional Educator Licensure (PEL) issued by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) with Bilingual and/or ESL endorsement required.
• Administrative endorsement preferred
• Master’s degree preferred

Experience Required:

1) Minimum of five (5) years of classroom teaching experience working with English Learners or dually identified students, including the following, is required:

• Minimum of three (3) years of experience coaching and/or designing and facilitating professional development for classroom teachers and school leaders
• Minimum of one (1) experience with educational leadership (Department Chair, Grade Level Lead, ILT, MTSS, etc)
• Experience in standards-based instructional planning, including backwards mapping from standards to instruction.

2) Bilingual/multilingual preferred

Other Requirements: Access to reliable transportation to travel to schools and other locations throughout the district, required

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: 

• Expertise in the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts and/or Spanish Language Arts, WIDA ELD and/or SLD Standards.
• Understanding of literacy in content areas as well as first and second language literacy development.
• Expertise in providing high-quality instruction in native and/or English language.
• Ability to design and implement differentiated instruction to meet the diverse needs of English learners, including those with varying proficiency levels.
• Strong solution-oriented problem-solving skills with the ability to manage and delegate tasks as situations dictate
• Ability to professionally represent OMME and the District during all interactions
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills and presentation skills;
• Ability to communicate effectively with all stakeholders
• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to establish efficient working, collaborative relationships with colleagues, district and school staff, and community-based organizations, to ensure the entire system operates in the most effective manner possible to support schools and principals High levels of instructional expertise, integrity, honesty, credibility, and the courage to make difficult yet necessary decisions
• Strong leadership and team-building skills, e.g., ability to develop high-performing teams united around a clear vision for serving schools and achieving student success
• Excellent time management and organizational skills; capable of successfully managing multiple projects and priorities Ability to use multiple data sources to set measurable goals and strategically plan to complete the goals
• Ability to define problems, analyze data, and develop action plans as part of a continuous improvement cycle
• Ability to recognize failures and learn from mistakes to improve conditions for working and learning as a teamAbility to be a self-learner and demonstrate excellent self-management
• Proficiency with a range of technology tools and software, including Student Information Systems, Google Workspace, Microsoft Office, etc., and the ability to quickly learn and leverage new technology

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.