Job Description

ORGANIZATIONAL OVERVIEW 

About Us and Our Philosophy  

Breakthrough Greater Boston (BTGB) is a transformative college access and teacher training program. BTGB offers six years of academic enrichment and college preparation to middle school and high school students with high potential but limited opportunities. Simultaneously, BTGB recruits, trains and inspires a diverse cohort of high achieving college students to become the next generation of urban teachers. Leveraging a Students Teaching Students model, BTGB provides engaging, tuition-free academic programming during the summer and after school. Our students gain the skills and motivation to succeed in rigorous high school courses and, ultimately, in college. Meanwhile, our teachers gain hands-on experience, research-based training and coaching from professional educators.  

Over the past eight years, 94% of our graduating students have matriculated to college, and 82% of them have persisted through their undergraduate years. On average, more than 70% of our graduating teachers have gone on to pursue careers in education. After two decades of success at our original Cambridge site, BTGB embarked upon a significant program expansion and opened a second site in Boston in the summer of 2013 and a third site in Somerville in 2018. As an independent 501c3 nonprofit, Breakthrough Greater Boston is part of The Breakthrough Collaborative, a national educational movement working to improve educational outcomes for youth across 25 U.S. cities.  

With a deep commitment to our mission, BTGB operates with the highest standards of integrity and best practices, while also enjoying the ability to be innovative and flexible to meet the evolving needs of our students, families and teachers.  Our team is diverse, high-performing and dedicated.  We continue to build an organizational culture that emphasizes our core values for every member of our community:  

• Spirit: We cherish and embody the youthful energy and spirit of our students and teachers  
• Continual Learning: Everyone in our community has something to learn and something to teach  
• Team Together: We all chip in to accomplish whatever is needed for our teammates and the broader organization  
• Student Centered: Our students are our first priority and our decisions center around what benefits our students  
• Equity and Opportunity: We value diversity of identity, background and thought. We treat everyone with dignity and respect  
• Excellence in Everything: We maintain high expectations for ourselves  

Breakthrough Greater Boston encourages individuals of all backgrounds to apply for this position, and we do not discriminate on any basis prohibited by applicable law. We celebrate the diversity of our world and our community, and we seek to build a team that reflects that diversity in every way. We welcome and encourage all qualified applicants who share that same vision, as we wish to engage all those who can contribute to our work and this mission. 

THE OPPORTUNITY 

Breakthrough Greater Boston is currently seeking a highly motivated and talented Senior Director of Curriculum and Instruction (SDCI) to oversee all aspects of teaching and learning for our middle school summer and school-year programs at one of our three campuses as well as to provide leadership and support across our three campuses for the Curriculum and Instruction team. The SDCI will be responsible for hiring, training and supervising Teaching Fellows and Instructional Coaches; ensuring high-quality classroom instruction; and evaluating student learning and teacher performance. In addition, the SDCI will provide ongoing support with student recruitment, admissions, placement and support for our middle school students. The SDCI is a leadership role within the Curriculum and Instruction team and as such takes on additional responsibilities such as coaching/mentoring colleagues, special initiatives, collaborating across departments, coverage planning for open roles and partnership development. The SDCI works closely with other members of a dynamic Program Team and reports directly to the Managing Director of Curriculum and Instruction.  

POSITION OUTCOMES 

A successful Senior Director of Curriculum and Instruction will work in close alignment with the Managing Director of Curriculum and Instruction to: 

• Lead within the department in areas that include but are not limited to: short and long term departmental planning, partnership development, special initiatives, staff support and coverage, data/reporting. 
• Plan and lead safe and engaging programming during the summer and school year for middle school students and Teaching Fellows 
• Hire, train and supervise a high performing and diverse team of Teaching Fellows and Instructional Coaches 
• Develop hands on, culturally responsive and rigorous curriculum that aligns with both district and state standards 
• Oversee assessment efforts to ensure students and Teaching Fellows make gains; use data to inform program and curriculum decisions 
• Work closely with the Director of Student Services at your campus to ensure all middle school students are well supported in their academic and social emotional learning 
• Establish and maintain strong collaborative relationships with partners that advance the work of your department including partner schools, universities, community-based organizations, teacher residency programs and local companies   

YOUR CONTRIBUTION 

In this exciting role you will be responsible for a variety of critical leadership responsibilities including: 

 Departmental Leadership 

• Build vision and collaboration among department team members across campuses 
• Plan and lead regular department meetings 
• Foster and develop key external partnerships linked to departmental work 
• Create and share regular program reports, highlights and updates with key internal and external audiences 
• Represent Breakthrough at events connected to your department 
• Collaborate with other department heads to ensure aligned and high-quality programming across campuses 
• Collaborate with the Development team to support with data and story-telling connected to your department 
• Play an active role in hiring for the department, including full-time and part-time employees, seasonal staff as well as volunteers 
• Observe programming within functional area across sites on a consistent basis 
• Provide coaching, mentoring and onboarding support to staff members within the department 
• Create coverage plans and cover open areas of work during staff transitions within department 

 Program Management 

• Work in collaboration with the rest of BTGB’s full-time program team to: 
• Plan and implement summer and school-year programs  
• Oversee the day-to-day operations of year-round academic programming at your campus 

Teacher Hiring, Training and Support 

• Lead Teaching Fellow recruitment and admissions, selecting outstanding candidates from a pool of several hundred 
• Lead Instructional Coach recruitment and admissions, yielding a team of highly capable, seasoned classroom teachers from a diverse set of local schools 
• Plan and lead teacher training and professional development, including a two-week pre-summer teacher orientation and weekly professional development events, with the support of Instructional Coaches 
• With the support of Instructional Coaches, oversee and conduct Teaching Fellow evaluation, gauging teachers’ progress toward agreed upon standards of performance 
• Train, supervise and support Teaching Fellows and Instructional Coaches, ensuring that all achieve mastery of the instructional and classroom management strategies utilized by BTGB 
• Drive summer career exploration activities, such as educator panels, connect Teaching Fellow alumni to post-BTGB career opportunities, write recommendations for Teaching Fellows and Instructional Coaches and participate in instructional workgroups and special projects 

 Curriculum and Assessment 

• Oversee the design and implementation of engaging and rigorous year-round academic programming with the support of Instructional Coaches and other professional educators 
• Develop and oversee student evaluation and assessment, including pre- and post-testing, as well as a wide range of formative and summative assessments 
• Track progress toward and report on annual goals for student and Teaching Fellow achievement 
• Maintain a resource library to ensure that Teaching Fellows have access to relevant, high-quality teaching materials 

Student Support 

• Assist with student recruitment and admissions 
• Assist with student advocacy work, maintaining positive relationships and frequent communications with families and school personnel 

Partnership Management 

• Help to articulate goals and advance work for your department’s partnerships 
• In collaboration with program team members, maintain frequent, positive and productive communication with school staff members, representatives from local community-based organizations, and university to collaboratively ensure our students’ and teachers success. 
• Ensure information gathering meetings occur with curriculum leads across all school districts each semester. 
• Maintain strong partnership with teacher pipeline partners  

YOUR BACKGROUND AND QUALIFICATIONS 

• Passion for the mission of BTGB, closing opportunity gaps and training the next generation of urban teachers 
• Five to seven years of work experience with significant experience in program management and teaching underserved students, preferably in grades 6-9, ideally students who will be first generation to college  
• Experience coaching and supporting colleagues 
• Significant experience with curriculum development and implementation 
• Experience mentoring and training pre-service or new teachers; ability to hold others to high standards while also offering support and maintaining positive relationships 
• An unwavering commitment to equity, in deepening your personal understanding and in advancing our collective work 
• Outstanding interpersonal and communication skills with students, families and educators 
• Superior organization and project management skills 
• Ability to work on multiple projects, adjust quickly to shifting priorities, meet deadlines, exercise good judgment and handle high-pressure situations 
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills with the ability to interact effectively with a variety of audiences 
• Team player who demonstrates a positive attitude, sense of humor, energy, entrepreneurial spirit and dedication to collaboration 
• Prior experience with Breakthrough model highly desirable; familiarity with partner schools or districts a plus 
• Flexibility that allows for periodic work on Saturdays and evenings 
• Candidates of color and those from low-income backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply as are those with fluency in Spanish, Haitian Creole, Amharic, Somali, Arabic, Bengali, Hindi, Tigrinya or Urdu 
• Bachelor’s degree 

COMPENSATION

Breakthrough Greater Boston offers a competitive compensation package and is deeply committed to pay equity and transparency. The salary range for this position is $71,920–107,880; Breakthrough Greater Boston makes an offer based on relevant years of experience and does not negotiate salaries. 

How to Apply

If you are interested in learning more about how your passion and experience can help Breakthrough meet its mission and grow its impact, please submit your resume and a thoughtful and targeted cover letter outlining how your skills and experience meet the qualifications of the position and stating how you heard about this opportunity. Applications can be submitted to Paulina Murton, Managing Director of Curriculum and Instruction, at jobs@btgbmail.org.  

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Learn more about Breakthrough Greater Boston at www.breakthroughgreaterboston.org. 

Job Types: Full-Time. Job Tags: Curriculum, program management, and Teaching.

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