Middle School - Exceptional Education Life Skills Teacher

Job Description

Job Description

Job Title:   Life Skills Teacher 

Reports to:   Principal

Be a LEADer.  Teach Exceptional Education Life Skills at LEAD Public Schools. 

Special Education (Ex.Ed) teachers are champions for the cause of equality within the school and make sure that their students’ needs are being met.  Our ideal Special Education teacher is passionate about supporting our students with IEPs, loves working with and advocating for students who need the most support, is flexible, is coachable, and wants to grow as a teacher. 

The LEAD Environment

Our Ex.Ed teachers work relentlessly with their teammates to ensure that all of their students not only are able to enhance their reading abilities by deciphering texts to inquire about historical events while also gaining a broader understanding of the world, but also meet the established Tennessee standards by the end of the year.  This incredible work is done through coaching and support from administration, implementing regular feedback, collaboration with colleagues, data analysis, and working to make sure that students who come in below grade level rise above the challenges they face.    

WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR:

Successful teachers at LEAD Public Schools are committed to put in the extra effort to ensure that our students have access to a high quality education. Our teachers persevere through difficult challenges, set goals for our students, and don’t give up. We ask our teachers to be flexible, hard-working, and constantly striving to improve their abilities in the classroom to meet our students’ needs. We are looking for Exceptional Education teachers.                 

Job Expectations/Requirements

• Design and implement data driven lesson plans that help grow and support students who may have cognitive and/or developmental delays

• Develop individualized education programs (IEPs) for students 
  1. Maintains special education files, both paper and electronic files, as directed by federal, state, and local practices. 
• Collect data on individual student skills to determine the effectiveness of programming and measure progress toward IEP goals
• Functional Curriculum and daily living focus, as appropriate
• Maximize creating independence across all natural settings
• Support students in develop their vocational skills to be better prepared for the workforce and independent living after high school
• Work as a team member and advocate for students to gain exposure to general education peers and settings as appropriate
• Ability and willingness to physically support students’ health and wellness needs (e.g. toileting, diapering, etc.) 
• Plans effective instructional and/or behavioral strategies for adapting and modifying general curriculum to ensure all students access academic content

Other Functions

• Directs and supervises education assistants for the purpose of providing an effective classroom program and addressing the needs of individual students.
• Supports other classroom teachers for the purpose of assisting them in the implementation of established curriculum and/or individual student plans. 

QUALIFICATIONS

Our ideal Ex.Ed/SPED teacher is passionate about working with students who need the most support, is flexible, is coachable, and wants to grow as a teacher.  

Experience: 

• Minimum of two years teaching experience preferred, but not required
• Previous experience with diverse student populations or in an urban setting preferred
• Physical Demands may include:
  1. Light to medium work involving standing, walking, lifting, pushing, carrying, (exerting up to 20 pounds)

Education/Certification:

• Bachelor's degree is required
• Candidates must have either (a) valid Tennessee teaching license with the appropriate content endorsement to teach SPED or (b) a valid out of state license that can successfully be transferred to Tennessee within 90 days of employment, or (c) demonstrate you are on track to complete the necessary steps towards certification in Tennessee.  

Other Qualifications or Characteristics:

• Belief in the LEAD mission that all students are capable of success while preparing them for college and for life
• Evidence of self-motivation and willingness to be a team player 

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

• LEAD Public Schools offers an innovative performance-based compensation plan for teachers.  This plan allows us to transparently reward our teachers not by how many years they have worked but rather by their positive impact on students and schools, evidenced by their consistent performance in and out of the classroom.  Teachers receive a competitive base salary with the potential for a signing bonus and can earn up to 10% on their base salary each year through our performance-based compensation plan.  This plan has been in place for 5 years, and we have seen an average annual increase of over 5% for our teachers with approximately 80% retention for those who qualify.  Additionally, teachers are eligible for LEAD’s Master Teacher program after 3 years.  In this program, teachers can earn up to $100,000 and receive a $1,500 professional development stipend. 

• Robust and competitive benefits package including medical, dental, vision, disability, supplemental insurance, life insurance policy options, and mental health benefits. Application for these benefits may be made immediately upon employment. The policy is effective upon the first of the month following the first day of work.

• Certificated staff have access to the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System pension plan (TCRS). Eligible staff contribute 5%, and LEAD matches up to 6%. Staff may also be eligible for 401k, in which LEAD will contribute 5%.  Participation in TCRS is mandated by the state of TN.  

• Non-TCRS eligible staff members are eligible to participate in LEAD’s defined contribution 403b plan.  LEAD matches 50% of the first 6% of employee contributions.  Additional annual contributions are provided to eligible employees after one year based on LEAD’s overall budget performance.  Participation in this plan is voluntary.

• The time off package for school-year employees (teachers, counselors, paraprofessionals) includes 30 paid days during the school year (including holidays, fall break, thanksgiving break, winter break, and spring break).  School-year employees also receive summer break.  In addition to breaks and holidays, school-year employees can accrue up to 10 PTO days during the school year.  

• The time off package for calendar-year employees (Central office, Instructional Managers, Assistant Principals) includes 32 paid days during the school year (including holidays, fall break, thanksgiving break, winter break, spring break).  In addition to breaks and holidays, school-year employees can accrue up to 12 PTO days during the school year.  

• Parental leave - 16 weeks of paid maternity leave and 6 weeks of paid parental leave (adoption, foster care).  

• Teachers are provided with laptop computers with access to the internet and or email to assist them in performing their job responsibilities.

Application

Go to  to learn more about our organization and to apply online.