POSITION OVERVIEW:

Founded in 1647, Boston Public Schools (BPS) is the oldest public school district in the country. With approximately 57,000 students from over 114 different countries, and nearly 9,000 employees (including 4,800 teachers), BPS is the largest school district in Massachusetts and one of the most diverse as well.
The BPS vision for engagement is every school will welcome every family and every student, actively engaging them in student learning and school improvement. The Office of Engagement (OOE) mission is to become a capacity-building catalyst for authentic, and effective partnerships among students, families, schools and the community to ensure student readiness and achievement from pre-entry to post-graduation.
OoE seeks collaborative, outcomes-oriented Family Engagement Facilitators to lead the district’s family engagement work with BPS school staff. Family Engagement Facilitators will serve as a catalyst in shifting and improving the practice of school staff, specifically around the roles of families and students in the education process, in ways that positively impact attitudes, beliefs, school culture, school performance and student outcomes.
Facilitators will identify and develop effective family engagement strategies, practices and tools for schools; and facilitate implementation through a family engagement practicum aligned to Standard III of the Massachusetts educator and administrator evaluation rubric. S/he will become expert in, strengthen, promote and expand district approved engagement strategies with particular attention paid to model fidelity. Proven strategies include, but are not limited to Academic Parent Teacher Teams, Parent Teacher Home Visits, student-led conferences and structured conversations.
The ideal candidate brings a successful track record as an educator, strong project management skills, coaching and training experience, and a passion for family engagement that accelerates student learning. Successful candidates thrive in collaborative, supportive environments while valuing hard work and achievement of results. Facilitators must have a deep knowledge of elementary and secondary family and student engagement research and practices, as well as experience using data to measure outcomes and drive improvement. S/he must also work as a technical assistant to build the capacity of school staff in the development and implementation of engagement strategies and initiatives, and possess strong facilitation skills to lead professional learning for school staff.
Engagement Facilitators will partner with the Office of Federal and State Grants, as well as district leadership to help schools meet state and federal family engagement requirements (BPS 5 Core Elements). S/he will also partner with the Boston Teachers Union to improve, execute and recruit for School Site Council trainings. Facilitators will also work with the district’s recognized parent leadership groups and supporting offices (Office of English Learners and Office of Special Education) in accordance with the district Engagement policy.

QUALIFICATIONS - REQUIRED:

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university;
• Passion for family engagement;
• Minimum of 3 years relevant professional experience in an urban public education setting;
• Experience as a teacher leader, mentor or coach or leading district and school level engagement efforts;
• Ability to drive change in others without a direct reporting relationship;
• Experience using family engagement as a lever to improve student and school outcomes;
• Excellent professional learning design and facilitation skills particularly as it relates to adult learning, and family engagement;
• Strong project management and organizational skills with a detail and deadline orientation, and focus on quality and mission critical priorities;
• Demonstrated ability to work cross-functionally, collaboratively and independently;
• Innovative and solutions-oriented to address roadblocks and barriers;
• Data and results-oriented; and skilled in identifying benchmarks and outcomes, and backwards-planning from those outcomes;
• Ability to coach/mentor or learn from others in the team;
• Proactively seeks, accepts and uses feedback for personal and professional growth and improvement of the work;
• Strong drive and motivation to take initiative;
• Ability to thrive in a high pressure environment;
• Excellent and concise oral and written communication skills with respect to serving a diverse population;
• Demonstrated cultural proficiency and awareness and ability to see other points of view;
• Computer proficiency and experience using MS Office Suite, online survey and communications tools;
• Ability to work some evenings and weekends.

QUALIFICATIONS - PREFERRED:

• Master’s degree from an accredited college or university;
• At least 4 years relevant professional experience in an urban public education setting;
• Experience as an educator in the Boston Public Schools including teacher leadership, instructional coaching, school leadership or principal coaching;
• Bilingual or multilingual in the district’s high-incidence languages (Arabic, Cape Verdean Creole, Chinese, Haitian Creole, Portuguese, Somali, Spanish or Vietnamese);
• Good sense of humor, diplomatic, and cooperative spirit.
  TERMS: Managerial, 12 months, C43.
  The Boston Public Schools, in accordance with its nondiscrimination policies, does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, age, criminal record, physical or mental disability, pregnancy or pregnancy-related conditions, homelessness, sex/gender, gender identity, religion, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, genetics, natural or protective hairstyle, military status, immigration status, English language proficiency, or any other factor prohibited by law in its programs and activities. BPS does not tolerate any form of retaliation, or bias-based intimidation, threat or harassment that demeans individuals’ dignity or interferes with their ability to work or learn. If you require an accommodation pursuant to the ADA for the application process, please contact the Accommodations Unit at accommodations@bostonpublicschools.org

• Possess a deep understanding of BPS and Department of Education policies, practices, and regulations related to the engagement of families and students (including ESSA, English Learners, special education and college and career readiness);
• Facilitate professional learning communities and observation opportunities for school leaders to learn, share together and develop a community of practice; provide concrete feedback, and where possible coaching and technical assistance to maximize the impact of family engagement efforts;
• Design and facilitate practicum-based professional learning for cohorts of teachers and school teams; and provide targeted assistance and coaching to implement engagement strategies approved or developed by OoE with a focus on program fidelity, careful modification where permissible, and data collection and analysis;
• Work with the evaluation team to develop and implement evaluation protocols that serve to assess implementation and inform continuous improvement for all engagement initiatives;
• Use data to assess partnering schools’ engagement efforts and to establish goals and action-planning with school teams to improve their practice;
• Work directly with district school leaders to build a deep knowledge of schools, their essential practice and instructional focus, and engagement needs to support the implementation of district level engagement strategies;
• Share evidence-based effective research with Academic and Assistant Superintendents and serve as thought leaders in helping schools transform recent educational research into effective instructional, operational, and professional practice;
• In collaboration with the OoE Evaluation team, collect, review, analyze, and maintain accurate data on families and schools served, and issues addressed; conduct periodic review of data to identify trends and patterns with the goal of aligning and improving services to schools; and use data to inform district and school practices, engagement strategies, and expansion and scaling efforts;
• Identify, document, codify and disseminate OoE best and promising practices to schools;
• Develop and/or curate user friendly, turnkey engagement toolkits including schoolwide and classroom-based strategies to support schools in self-guided implementation of family engagement practices;
• Solicit feedback from school-based staff, at least annually, to build a deep understanding of the barriers educators face in engaging families and generate creative solutions to help them overcome barriers;
• Support priority schools in the School Parent Council, School Site Council and/or student government election process; and work to build a pipeline of certified election facilitators to oversee these election processes;
• Work with the district’s recognized parent leadership groups and supporting offices (Office of English Learners and Office of Special Education) to develop the skills needed for effective advocacy and partnership with schools and the district;
• Proactively seek out resources, research and information on models and strategies in other districts; stay abreast of changes in the field of family and student engagement; and share new learning with colleagues;
• Identify school-based staff who excel at effective and high impact engagement practice and foster their leadership to build a pipeline of educators able to facilitate or co-facilitate OoE training and school-based coaching.