Posted: June 29, 2011

Talent Management Coach – RSD Pathways to Instructional Excellence
Greater New Orleans

The New Teacher Project (TNTP) strives to end the injustice of educational inequality by providing excellent teachers to the students who need them most and by advancing policies and practices that ensure effective teaching in every classroom. A national nonprofit organization founded by teachers, TNTP is driven by the knowledge that effective teachers have a greater impact on student achievement than any other school factor. In response, TNTP develops customized programs and policy interventions that enable education leaders to find, develop and keep great teachers. Since its inception in 1997, TNTP has recruited or trained approximately 43,000 teachers and worked with more than 200 districts in 31 states – benefiting an estimated 7 million students. Meanwhile, TNTP's acclaimed studies of the policies and practices that affect the quality of the teacher workforce — most recently including The Widget Effect (2009) and Teacher Evaluation 2.0 (2010) — have influenced federal education policy and inspired reform efforts across the country.
TNTP is active in more than 25 cities, including 10 of the nation's 15 largest.
We are currently seeking a full-time Talent Management Coach to implement a talent management system focused on teacher effectiveness. This position reports to a Partner and will work from a school district central office in the Greater New Orleans area. The Talent Management Coach will be required to travel 4-5 days a week to New Orleans area schools and, less frequently, to at least one school outside of the New Orleans area. This position is available immediately.

Performance Management
TNTP is advancing policies and practices that support teacher effectiveness in districts and states, and improving the way school leaders and administrators manage teachers on the job. This starts with robust teacher evaluation and development systems that produce clear information on how teachers are performing their most critical role: advancing student learning. TNTP is helping its partners at the state, district and school level to design and implement these evaluation and development systems, and use information about teacher performance in decisions about hiring and staffing, development, compensation, promotion and retention.

The Program
TNTP has spent over a decade at the forefront of teacher effectiveness reform in New Orleans. TNTP has helped Louisiana’s Recovery School District (RSD) design and implement an improved teacher evaluation system, known as RSD Pathways. The system, which is driving a meaningful distribution of teacher performance, has been embraced by many RSD teachers and principals for its rigor, accountability and ability to facilitate useful feedback.

Through Pathways, TNTP will also address hiring challenges for the RSD direct-run schools in New Orleans to ensure that these schools have the opportunity to hire the highest quality teachers possible. These staffing strategies will support and develop school hiring capacity by providing professional development and differentiated support to school administrators throughout the year, with a focus on identifying, cultivating, and hiring teacher candidates based on school fit. The Pathways program team will provide high-touch, customized logistical support to both the school site during the hiring process, hold job fairs, and facilitate strategic staffing conversations and workshops through which school leadership teams learn to create a school specific criterion based hiring process in order to identify the most effective teacher candidates for their buildings. The Talent Management Coach will play a key role in supporting principals’ adoption of these practices.

Role and Responsibilities

This position offers the successful candidate the opportunity to assume a role in supporting school leaders in evaluating and developing effective teachers in New Orleans area public schools. Specific responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Work with principals, Assistant Principals, and Master Teachers to improve use of evaluation tools and systems
• Coach principals on performance-based staffing strategies
• Track and provide logistical support to ensure that school leaders follow observation and evaluation processes
• Create and/or help school leaders use materials, agendas, and talking points to guide performance conversations with teachers
• Accompany principals, Assistant Principals, and Master Teachers on classroom observations
• Provide written and verbal guidance to principals on using data to assess teacher effectiveness
• Create and/or help school leaders use tools to diagnose teacher needs and choose appropriate interventions
• Track teacher development needs and the delivery of interventions to establish school and project level patterns

Qualifications

We are seeking candidates who believe deeply in our organization's mission, who thrive in an entrepreneurial and dynamic environment, and who demonstrate a record of achievement. This position will also require frequent travel within Greater New Orleans.

• Significant prior experience with improving teacher performance as a school administrator (either as a principal, vice principal or other school leader) required
• Prior experience with teacher evaluation required
• Track record of developing teachers to produce greater gains in student achievement
• Strong education background and instructional skill set, preferably in high-need schools or with high-need populations
• Strong analytical skills, including experience working with qualitative and quantitative teacher performance data
• Outstanding critical thinking skills
• Excellent project management and organizational skills
• Extraordinary attention to detail
• Superior adult facilitation skills
• Excellent oral communication and writing skills
• The ability to work independently and manage multiple responsibilities simultaneously
• Outstanding interpersonal and teamwork skills
• The ability to critically assess challenges and identify effective solutions
• The ability to work effectively with others at all levels of an organization and to consistently display a high level of professionalism in all interactions
• Flexibility and comfort with ambiguity
• Familiarity with Louisiana curriculum standards (preferred)
• Comfort working with computers and strong working knowledge of the Microsoft Office suite
• Willingness to work non-standard hours and occasional weekends
• Willingness to travel within Louisiana up to twice a month

Compensation

The annual salary for this position is $100,000 or commensurate with experience in a similar position with the potential for a performance based bonus.

TNTP offers a motivated team of dynamic colleagues, a collegial atmosphere that values professional development and valuable feedback, a comprehensive benefits plan effective on the first day of employment – including low cost medical, dental, vision, disability, life insurance, flexible spending account options, generous vacation time, a 403(b) plan with matching, potential opportunities for performance based bonuses – as well as the chance to impact the direction of a growing, mission-driven company that is committed to the success of our nation’s children. For more information on TNTP’s competitive benefits package, please visit http://tntp.org/join/our-benefits/

To Apply

Please submit your resume and tailored cover letter online at
http://tbe.taleo.net/NA5/ats/careers/requisition.jsp?org=THENEWTEACHERPROJECT&cws=1&rid=879

We review applications on a rolling basis – so it is to your advantage to apply as soon as possible. We will not consider applications without a cover letter tailored to this position, which can be addressed to the Human Capital Team. The New Teacher Project is committed to fostering and capitalizing on the diversity of our organization. We are an equal opportunity employer and seek individuals of all ethnic and racial backgrounds to apply to this position. If you would like to learn more about our mission, please visit our web site at www.tntp.org.