School-Based Structured Literacy Support Coach
REPORTS TO:  Principal	FLSA STATUS:  Exempt
SUPERVISES:  n/a	POSITION STATUS:  Contracted / Salaried
EVALUATION:  Position evaluated by Principal	WORK YEAR:  190 days
EVALUATION INSTRUMENT:  Local	SALARY SCHEDULE:  State Salary Schedule
RETIREMENT:  TRS

 

TERMS OF EMPLOYMENT:

Salary and benefits shall be paid according to system’s approved salary schedule.

Length of work year and hours of employment shall be those established by the system.

All full-time employees (at least 24 hours per week on a continuing basis and employment  must be expected to last at least nine months) are eligible for health insurance.  All teachers employed in professionally certificated capacity, provided he or she works half -time or more (but not less than 18 hours a week) and is not considered a temporary employee,  emergency employee, or retired employee are eligible for health insurance. Any non-Teacher Retirement System (TRS) eligible employee will have a FICA deduction.

General Responsibilities:

 

School-Based Structured Literacy Support Coaches will work in assigned schools to support the Georgia Early Literacy Act and provide appropriate services to schools so that there can be a cohesive, sustained, intensive and classroom-focused approach that is rigorous, engaging, and relevant for students. School-Based Structured Literacy Support Coaches will provide a non-threatening, open, professional, and collaborative work relationship with principals, other academic coaches, and K-3 teachers. They will be required to effectively identify the needs of assigned schools in order to prioritize, schedule, organize, and provide technical assistance so that students in assigned schools achieve grade level reading by the end of 3rd grade. 

 

Specific Responsibilities 

• Assist principals and other leadership in assigned schools with aligning school wide systems, processes, and resources to structured literacy as defined by Georgia Early Literacy Act.  
• Assist school administrators and other leadership with providing regular and user-friendly data reports to their respective districts and other stakeholders. 
• Assist K-3 teachers in addressing grade specific curriculum by developing an effective school-wide literacy plan and providing strategies for monitoring the plan’s implementation. 
• Collaborate with Regional Structured Literacy Support Coaches to design and conduct professional development to meet the varied needs of K-3 teachers. 
• Facilitate and lead structured coaching cycles with teachers, fostering a collaborative and growth-oriented environment that includes goal setting, modeling, lesson observation, constructive feedback, and reflective discussions to enhance literacy instruction and student outcomes.
• Provide clear, practical, timely, and candid written and oral feedback to teachers about their instruction. 
• Conference with teachers identified for additional support to create, implement, and monitor goals and plans for improving practice. 
• Meet regularly with principal, other school-based coaches, and K-3 teachers to review data and make recommendations for adjustments in instructional practices. 
• Maintain an organized system for documenting coaching services. 

Knowledge, Skills, and Attributes 

 

A thorough understanding of the following is vital: 

• Reading processes, acquisition, assessment, and instruction, 
• Systematic, explicit instructional process, 
• Instructional coaching approaches and strategies for teaching adult learners, 
• Scientific reading research and its application to effective classroom instruction, structure, and practices, as well as intervention.
• Georgia Standards for Excellence in English Language Arts, Social Studies, Science as well as new Georgia K-12 ELA Standards
• Multi-Tiered Systems of Support and 
• Data analysis and application. 

Required Qualifications 

• Valid Georgia Teaching or Service Certificate at level 4 or higher, 
• Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education or Special Education or a related field,  
• Advanced preparation in Reading/Literacy through completion of Reading Endorsement, Dyslexia Endorsement, or independent training program approved by Internationa Dyslexia Association, 
• Minimum of 5 years elementary teaching experience including evidence-based word recognition and comprehension instruction.

Preferred Qualifications 

• Master’s degree in Elementary Education, Reading, Special Education, or related field 
• Advanced preparation in instructional coaching through completion of Coaching Endorsement, Teacher Leader Endorsement, or independent training program (e.g. Instructional Coaching Group), or 
• 3 years instructional leadership experience including curriculum design, professional development, and implementation support at the school or district level. 

Assurances

 

The school-based literacy coach will: 

• Provide monthly reports related to the literacy components of the school improvement plan.
• Meet monthly with the regional structured literacy support coach as a professional learning community to ensure consistency of services and discuss trends in needs across districts.
• Attend regular training and professional learning sessions developed by the statewide structured literacy coaching coordinator. 
• Assist principals and other leadership in assigned schools with aligning schoolwide systems, processes, and resources to structured literacy as defined by Georgia Early Literacy Act.  
• Assist school administrators and other leadership with providing regular and user-friendly data reports to their respective districts and other stakeholders. 
• Assist K-3 teachers in addressing grade specific curriculum by developing an effective school-wide literacy plan and providing strategies for monitoring the plan’s implementation.
• Collaborate with Regional Structured Literacy Support Coaches to design and conduct professional development to meet the varied needs of K-3 teachers. 
• Facilitate and lead structured coaching cycles with teachers, fostering a collaborative and growth-oriented environment that includes goal setting, lesson observation, constructive feedback, and reflective discussions to enhance literacy instruction and student outcomes
• Provide clear, practical, timely, and candid written and oral feedback to teachers about their instruction. 
• Conference with teachers identified for additional support to create, implement, and  monitor goals and plans for improving practice. 
• Meet regularly with principal, other school-based coaches, and K-3 teachers to review data and make recommendations for adjustments in instructional practices. 
• Maintain an organized system for documenting coaching services.