Gradient Learning HIRING FOR Curriculum Specialist – Social Studies AT Los Angeles, CA Full Time

Gradient Learning is a nonprofit organization guided by the vision that educators should be empowered to meet the needs of all of their students. Gradient Learning is rebuilding education together, with communities, schools, and educators. We are committed to meeting the holistic needs of every child while fostering success for all. We lead the Summit Learning program and Along.

The Summit Learning program is a research-based approach to education designed to drive student engagement, meaningful learning, and strong student-teacher relationships. The Summit Learning program offers schools a customizable curriculum, a range of educational resources and technology tools, professional development for educators, and ongoing coaching and support for schools. The program is used by nearly 400 schools, 4,000 educators, and 80,000 students across the U.S.

Along is a first-of-its-kind teacher-student connection builder. Within the challenging realities of today’s classrooms, there are many barriers to connection. Using simple, yet powerful, reflection questions, Along solves the connection gap between teachers and students by fostering authentic conversations.

The Curriculum Specialist – Social Studies will be an employee of Gradient Learning, whose work will support Summit Learning.

Our Values:
We stay at the forefront of our work: We continuously improve, learning directly from those who are doing the work.

We are optimistic about change and the possibilities therein: We welcome programmatic improvements and strategy shifts which will result in positive results for children and communities.

We value our people, and we support their growth within their zone of proximal development: Our people are at the center of our work, and we support their development by finding their level of potential development through problem solving and in collaboration with peers.

We mean what we say, and we commit to our promises: We follow through on our commitments with honesty and integrity.

We meticulously prioritize: There is more work to do than resources. We know that our colleagues (their talents and time) and our dollars are not limitless and if not spent doing our work will do work that is equally essential. As such we are careful and responsible stewards of our resources

We are principles-based not rules-based: We make decisions based on what we believe is best for our people and the communities we serve as opposed to adhering to a prescriptive set of immovable practices.

We value diversity and strive to be inclusive in our work, both for our students and our team members: We believe in the importance of teaching children in alignment with our values and honoring every individual story and unique path.

Curriculum Specialist – Social Studies

Position Overview:
The Curriculum Specialist (CS) serves as Gradient’s content-area expert for their academic discipline (i.e., mathematics, science, language arts, history). The CS develops and implements a process for curating and integrating externally-validated curricular materials into Summit Learning’s instructional program and digital platform. The CS collaborates with other specialists across content areas, contributing to team-wide initiatives for sustaining and improving our program and platform. The CS serves as an in-house resource for our schools’ support and professional development teams, partnering to develop best-in-class training and coaching related to their content area. Finally, the CS engages with the external sector to stay abreast of current trends and innovations in their content area and works to incorporate cutting-edge strategies, resources, and concepts into our program while maintaining its cohesion and usability.

The role reports to the Director of Curriculum Strategy and Operations. This is an exempt position and a remote opportunity.

Compensation:
Gradient Learning provides competitive compensation and an attractive benefits package.The salary range for a resident in the San Francisco/Bay area is $115,092-151,453. This range is adjusted based on the candidate’s location of residence, depending on the city you live there could be a % location adjustment in the above salary range. (e.g. -10%, -15%, -20%).

Skills and Responsibilities:
Review external curricular and instructional resources, deploying deep content expertise to assess product quality, utility, and value.

Revise, curate, and enhance curricular and instructional resources to cohere with Summit’s existing program design and pedagogical values (i.e., differentiation, social-emotional learning, culturally sustaining, and responsive practices).

Liaise and collaborate with external curriculum providers to further the quality and efficiency of resource adoption, revision, and curation.

Conduct sustained, ongoing research regarding current best practices in developing content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, and instructional efficacy; incorporate cutting-edge trends into current projects, products, and workstreams.

Collaborate with other content specialists to continuously assess and improve Summit’s overall pedagogical cohesion and quality.

Collaborate with product technicians to develop platform recommendations that will further the quality of curricular and instructional delivery.

Skills and Qualifications:
Content Expertise

Deep personal knowledge of the content area; along with best practices / pedagogical content knowledge of the content area

Experience designing, reviewing, and/or modifying curricular resources related to the content area

Knowledge of current educational principles, best practices, and theory related to curriculum development and implementation, learning technologies, differentiated learning, and the whole child philosophy

Demonstrated evidence of utilizing high-quality research and data analytics to support the adoption of innovative strategies for the solution of persistent educational challenges

Collaboration

Demonstrated ability to achieve both individual and collective goals through collaboration with a diverse set of team members

Ability to triangulate individual strategy (i.e. content-area excellence) with the broader team and organizational goals (i.e. cross-content strategy; implementation strategies).

Experience working amidst a strong, inclusive team

Time and Task Management

Demonstrated ability to manage multiple individual and shared workstreams

Ability to meticulously prioritize across workstreams to efficaciously achieve goals

Self-directed and nimble problem solving

Qualifications:
Commitment to uphold Gradient Learning values.

BA or equivalent experience; a graduate degree in Content Area and/or Ed Psych, Developmental Psych, Instructional Design or related field strongly preferred.

3+ years of experience teaching, leading instruction at a school or district level, and/or supporting program implementation preferred.

2+ years writing and/or modifying curriculum, in the context of a curriculum production company and/or school/district role.

Proficiency in Google Platforms, including Google Drive, Google Sheets, Google Docs, and Google Slides.

Clear health and background check.

An ability to travel 10% to schools participating in the Summit Learning Program across the country.

What We Expect From You:
You maintain high expectations for all students and believe all students can find success in school, college, and life.

You thrive while collaborating and are excited to work with your colleagues. You find positivity in shared successes.

You’re deeply dedicated to social justice and feel motivated by the challenge and impact of working in a heterogeneous community and closing the achievement gap.

You share our vision to reimagine what schools should be and are excited to make an impact on the public education landscape.

You are data driven and you collect, evaluate, and utilize data in meaningful ways.

You are positive and resilient in the face of big challenges.

You take initiative and ownership in driving your work to meet personal and team goals.

You possess strong relationship skills and you motivate, inspire, develop, and communicate with diverse groups of teachers, Leaders, staff members, and community members.

You apply honest, actionable, and timely feedback that results in improved performance.

You have a strategic mindset when it comes to executing Professional Development initiatives.

You are empathetic and culturally competent. You’re open to having hard conversations.

You thrive in innovative environments and are comfortable with the ambiguity that can come with a dynamic and progressive workplace.

You’re committed to continuous improvement, see feedback as a positive, and have a growth mindset.

What You Can Expect From Us:
Gradient Learning offers competitive salaries and benefit options for full-time employees.

We strive to recruit a diverse team. Gradient Learning is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate against any employee or applicant on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, disability, age, marital status, military status, pregnancy, parenthood, citizenship status, creed, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law. We will provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities.

People from all diverse backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply.