USS Special Education Continuum Coach 24/25 SY - Professional Development Opportunities

: TITLE: USS Special Education Continuum Coach WHO WE ARE: Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) is a student-focused, innovative educational organization committed to academic excellence. Our mission is to empower and educate all students to think critically, creatively, and responsibly, to embrace diversity, and to pursue their dreams with a purpose. We are a family of excellent public schools in which every student has the opportunity to succeed and the power to create their own future. Led by forward-thinking leadership and our commitment to prioritizing students, racial equity, and authentic engagement with our families, team members, and communities, our staff have diverse opportunities to develop their careers in a challenging but rewarding environment. We are an organization for people who are passionate about education and who are committed to the Indianapolis community. SUMMARY OF OPPORTUNITY: The Unified Student Supports team is looking for a skilled professional who has experience serving as an instructional champion for students with disabilities within Indianapolis Public Schools. The SPED Continuum Coach provides direct instructional and behavioral support to their assigned schools to increase student achievement of IPS students with special needs. This is a 10-month position with the ability to earn compensation for additional hours work beyond the teacher contract time. WHAT YOU’LL DO: The following outlines what your core duties and responsibilities will be for this position and provides a sample overview of what your day-to-day may look like. Core Duties and Responsibilities ● Serve as the first and strongest advocate for racial and ableness equity and student-centered approaches to teaching, learning, service, and support. ● Provide specific feedback, support, and suggestions to principals to strengthen teaching and learning for students with disabilities, regardless of LRE. ● Assist principals with decision-making and problem-solving as it pertains to intensive programming. ● Ensure MTSS is the backbone of all special education programming, intervention planning and monitoring, etc. ● Lean into a unique and specialized skillset within the special education continuum and disability eligibility areas in order to promote all students’ access to the least restrictive setting. ● Provide day-to-day logistical and instructional support to teachers serving in self-contained or more restrictive settings. ● Support the assignment, distribution, and management of student caseloads, per the direction of the special program coordinator. ● Work collaboratively with district and department coaches, teachers and classroom assistants with implementation of Individual Education Plans. ● Strengthen special education staff (teachers, coaches, administrators) knowledge and application of best practices aligned to your area of expertise ● Support special education leaders with the creation of professional development highlighting best practices to support universal design for learning. ● With the support of the Special Education Compliance Monitor, review data to inform decision making: service logs, behavior data, FBA/BIP, progress monitoring, school suspensions, expulsions, seclusion and restraints, academic data, and Child Count for students with special needs in assigned buildings and develop action plans as needed. ● Attend and contribute to Results Driven Accountability Meetings. ● Empower teachers to write strong IEPs that accurately reflect each student’s needs and serve as tool to increase achievement of our students with disabilities. As such, every IEP will exemplify data driven goals with corresponding specially designed instruction. In addition, each IEP will have strategically designed special education and related services so that ALL students may be educated in their least restrictive environment; ● Support all stakeholders with essential tools to accelerate learning and protect the rights of students with disabilities and their families; ● Consistently shares the vision of the Unified Support Staff team and collaboratively seeks innovative solutions to support students and their families; ● Proactively and consistently revisits special education program and service procedures to ensure continuity services and foresight of potential issues. ● Communicate effectively, and in a timely manner, with parents and guardians of special needs students to address complaints, issues and concerns. ● Supports USS administrators with evaluation in day to day operations. ● Oversee special program rosters. ● Consistently contribute to a positive team culture by being direct and transparent, helpful and collaborative while prioritizing a customer service orientation ● Understand and models positive behavioral intervention supports. ● Possesses knowledge of procedures, policies and laws pertaining to special education. ● Consistently contribute to a positive team culture by being direct and transparent, helpful and collaborative while prioritizing a customer service orientation ● Chair and facilitate weekly PLC/Staffing meetings. ● Consistently revisit special education program and service procedures to ensure continuity services and foresight of potential issues; ● Communicate effectively, and in a timely manner, with parents and guardians of special needs students to address complaints, issues and concerns. ● Perform other duties as assigned by USS administration. “Day In the Life” Overview On a regular day, as a USS SPED Continuum Coach, you may: ● Spend the majority of your time in collaborative work with special education teachers, school leaders, and other experts to improve learning outcomes for students with disabilities in their least restrictive environment. This collaboration includes but is not limited to direct instructional coaching, professional development, analysis of progress data, seeking out academic and behavioral instructional strategies, and assisting with implementation. ● Model systems and interventions designed to keep students in their least restrictive environment On a regular day, as a SPED Continuum Coach in our Programs for Young Children (PYC), you may: ● Spends the majority of his/her time in collaborative work with special education teachers, school leaders, and other experts to improve learning outcomes for students with disabilities using the IPS Coaching Framework. This collaboration includes but is not limited to direct instructional coaching, professional development, analysis of progress data, seeking out academic and behavioral instructional strategies, and assisting with implementation. ● The Continuum Coach for PYC has broad understanding of all early childhood learners and a strong grasp of students with a range of disabilities. On a typical day you work alongside our extensive team as a thought partner, problem solver and collaborator to meet the needs of our students and their families. On a regular day, as a SPED Continuum Coach for our elementary intensive academic programs, you may: ● Spends the majority of his/her time in collaborative work with special education teachers, school leaders, and other experts to improve learning outcomes for students with disabilities using the IPS Coaching Framework. This collaboration includes but is not limited to direct instructional coaching, professional development, analysis of progress data, seeking out academic and behavioral instructional strategies, and assisting with implementation. ● The SPED Continuum Coach has a broad understanding of all disabilities and a specialized knowledge of working with students with moderate to severe disabilities. On a typical day you work alongside our special program staff as a thought partner, problem solver, and resource to collaborate and ensure that the needs of our staff, students, and families are met. ● The SPED Continuum Coach works collaboratively with building administrators, staff, and USS staff to support student observations, reports, strategy suggestions, plan implementation, and program placement. On a regular day, as a SPED Continuum Coach for our secondary intensive academic programs, you may: ● Spends the majority of his/her time in collaborative work with special education teachers, school leaders, and other experts to improve learning outcomes for students with disabilities using the IPS Coaching Framework. This collaboration includes but is not limited to direct instructional coaching, professional development, analysis of progress data, seeking out academic and behavioral instructional strategies, and assisting with implementation. ● The Continuum Coach has a broad understanding of all disabilities and a specialized knowledge of working with students with mild to severe disabilities. On a typical day you work alongside our special program staff as a thought partner, problem solver, and resource to collaborate and ensure that the needs of our staff, students, and families are met. ● The Continuum Coach works collaboratively with building administrators, staff, and USS staff to support student observations, reports, strategy suggestions, plan implementation, and program placement. ● The Continuum Coach supports the Applied Unit Course of Study, post secondary planning (i.e. Vocational Rehabilitation Services, Waiver services), and community work based curriculum. ● The Continuum Coach supports Employment Training Specialist and community based instruction. On a regular day, as a SPED Continuum Coach for our secondary transitional programs, you may: ● Spends the majority of his/her time in collaborative work with special education teachers, school leaders, and other experts to improve learning outcomes for students with disabilities using the IPS Coaching Framework. This collaboration includes but is not limited to direct instructional coaching, professional development, analysis of progress data, seeking out academic and behavioral instructional strategies, and assisting with implementation. ● The Continuum Coach has a broad understanding of all disabilities and a specialized knowledge of working with students with mild to severe disabilities. On a typical day you work alongside our special program staff as a thought partner, problem solver, and resource to collaborate and ensure that the needs of our staff, students, and families are met. ● The Continuum Coach work collaboratively with building administrators, staff, and USS staff to support student observations, reports, strategy suggestions, plan implementation, and program placement. ● The Continuum Coach supports the Applied Unit Course of Study, post secondary planning (i.e. Vocational Rehabilitation Services, Waiver services), and IPS ARCHES Program. ● The Continuum Coach supports IPS Post Secondary Transition Programs IUPUI SITE and Project SEARCH. ● The Continuum Coach supports Employment Training Specialist and community based instruction. On a regular day, as a SPED Continuum Coach in our Intensive Intervention and Supportive Behavioral Programming, you may: ● Spends the majority of his/her time in collaborative work with special education teachers, school leaders, and other experts to improve learning outcomes for students with disabilities using the IPS Coaching Framework. This collaboration includes but is not limited to direct instructional coaching, professional development, analysis of progress data, seeking out academic and behavioral instructional strategies, and assisting with implementation. ● The Continuum Coach has a broad understanding of all disabilities and a specialized knowledge of working with students with mild to severe disabilities and a particular interest/expertise in behavior management. On a typical day you work alongside our special program staff as a thought partner, problem solver, and resource to collaborate and ensure that the needs of our staff, students, and families are met. ● The Continuum Coach work collaboratively with building administrators, staff, and USS staff to support student observations, reports, strategy suggestions, plan implementation, and program placement. On a regular day, as a SPED Continuum Coach in our Autism Programming, you may: ● Spends the majority of his/her time in collaborative work with special education teachers, school leaders, and other experts to improve learning outcomes for students with Autism. This collaboration includes but is not limited to direct instructional coaching, professional development, analysis of progress data, seeking out academic and behavioral instructional strategies, and assisting with implementation. ● The Continuum Coach has a broad understanding of the Autism Spectrum and ABA principles and a specialized knowledge of working with students with behavior management needs. On a typical day you work alongside our special program staff as a thought partner, problem solver, and resource to collaborate and ensure that the needs of our staff, students, and families are met. ● The Continuum Coach work collaboratively with building administrators, staff, and USS staff to support student observations, reports, strategy suggestions, plan implementation, and program placement. ● The Continuum Coach for autism programs would support Autism observation needs and student transitions out of ABA centers. WHAT YOU’ll BRING: SKILLS AND MINDSETS As an ideal candidate for this role, you will be able to achieve the following: ● Growth Mindset - Continuously seeks to improve individual work, demonstrating candor and ability to identify weaknesses. Finds lessons in failures and successes of others. Proactively seeks and acts on feedback. ● Effective Influencer - Inspires others to work towards common goals to meet the needs of urban school students, despite obstacles. Advocates the importance of the district’s role in serving schools and communicates with internal and external stakeholders. ● Strong Collaboration & Cross-Functional Skills - Builds rapport and cooperative relationships with others. Establishes and maintains strong relationships with relevant stakeholders. Places high priority on team and organizational goals. ● Confidentiality - Makes effective decisions regarding sensitive and confidential information. Respects the privacy of others and maintains the confidentiality of information. ● Communication Skills - Possesses effective verbal and written communication and should be able to adapt communication style to suit different audiences. ● Strategic Thinking - Identifies challenges and guides the team toward solutions. Creates space for productive debate and alternative perspectives. Encourages innovation and creativity from the team. Identifies risks and ways to mitigate. ● Project Management - Manages projects from end to end, identifying and monitoring project milestones and holding the team accountable for achieving results. ● Fidelity in application of the following: ○ Highly-developed communications skil