Instructional Coach

Description

Job Description

POSITION: Instructional Coach

REPORTS TO: Manager of Coaching and Learning

POSITION TYPE: 12-month

START DATE: Immediate

COMPENSATION: $60,818 - $72,981, Home Office Grade 5

At YES Prep, work for a mission that impacts the life trajectory of students and their families. YES Prep creates pathways to extraordinary opportunity through best-in-class development, competitive compensation and benefits, and recognition for your impact. Grow as an authentic leader and be part of a high-performing, team-oriented culture.

Some quick stats about us:

• 21,000 Students
• 2,600 Team Members
• 16 Secondary Campuses
• 12 Elementary Campuses
• 91% Students Who Qualify for Free/Reduced-Price Lunch
• 96% Hispanic & African-American Students
• 99% Students Who Are Accepted to a 4-Year University
• 85% First-Generation College Students
• Ranked in the Top 100 High Schools in the Nation, U.S. News & World Report

We serve the students of Houston, Texas, the 4th largest city across the United States. There are over 20 public-school districts and other great public charter school options within Houston’s city limits serving our increasing population.

THE OPPORTUNITY

YES Prep needs a dynamic Instructional Coach with a robust set of experiences, to make our mission a reality. As a YES Prep employee, you will achieve jaw-dropping results, create pathways to opportunity for our students, and build transformative relationships.

To put it simply, you will play a critical role in improving student outcomes across YES Prep & Partnership campuses. You will work collaboratively with novice elementary, bilingual teachers and campus leadership to build capacity and understanding of research-based instructional practices and classroom culture and management strategies. Additionally, you will provide individual and group professional learning experiences that will expand and refine the understanding about best practices for novice teachers.

THE ROLE

When you join the YES Prep team, you will play an integral role in guiding beginning teachers toward success with their students and student achievement through classroom culture and management, instructional planning, and delivery. Some of the work and responsibilities will include:

• Committing, aligning, and positively promoting the vision and mission of YES Prep and the Teaching Excellence program to Team Members, teachers, and other stakeholders.
• Serving as an exemplary Instructional Leader by building content knowledge and expertise in the following: YP Instructional Strategy, YP Curricular Resources and Curriculum.
• Exhibiting professional behaviors that model expectations for Team and teachers enrolled in Teaching Excellence.
• Traveling daily to YP Campuses assigned to support.
• Working in the field (on campuses) 75% of the work week.

Teacher Development

• Coaching and developing a cohort of novice, secondary teachers (6th-12th) by executing effective Instructional Leader coaching practices of a specific school level.
• Conducting in person observations of novice teachers and providing developmentally appropriate feedback.
• Conducting a variety of coaching opportunities that accelerate teacher growth and positively impact student achievement.
• Aligning coaching practices to the YES Prep Instructional strategy coaching practices.
• Building secondary teacher expertise and content knowledge related to corresponding school level curricular resources.
• Developing teacher content knowledge and expertise of secondary YP Curricular Resources that accelerate the teacher’s development as a content expert of his/her designated course(s).
• Creating and tailoring teacher coaching packages that support the development and accelerated growth of each teacher within IC assigned cohorts.

Teacher Certification Compliance

• Supporting teachers through meeting certification deadlines and course work through meetings, reminders, and action plans that yield teacher completion of certification tasks.
• Collaborating with Certification Coordinators consistently to identify teacher specific certification updates for teacher within assigned cohort.
• Articulating accurate information, deadlines, timelines, program logistics, and program coursework to teachers, campus leaders, and other stakeholders to ensure teachers are meeting certification benchmarks and timelines.
• Reviewing and providing feedback to teachers about pre-service requirements and programming coursework.
• Trackihng and monitoring teacher progress of completion of certification required coursework.
• Supporting teachers with task and time management of certification requirements.
• Supporting teachers directly with Content Exam Test Prep and strategies to increase successful pass rates for all required tests.

Professional Learning

• Writing and facilitating professional learning sessions to build novice teacher foundational skills and areas of development.
• Collaborating with Team Members, working groups, and external district partners to align Teaching Excellence ACP Professional Learning opportunities with those of district initiatives, priorities, and focus areas.
• Facilitating professional learning opportunities led by district external partners.
• Participating in district professional learning opportunities that accelerate skill and content knowledge of Instructional Leaders.
• Developing personal expertise and content knowledge around district professional learning focus areas and priorities.
• Delivering on campus professional learning opportunities in alignment with Teaching Excellence ACP programming opportunities.
• Facilitating professional learning experiences during the summer (Induction) and throughout the school year (Teacher Development Saturdays).

District Cross Collaboration

• Building strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
• Meeting consistently with campus admin to align on campus priorities and support for teachers enrolled in Teaching Excellence ACP.
• Collaborating with campus leadership consistently to develop coaching packages and determine appropriate supports for teachers enrolled in Teaching Excellence ACP.
• Supporting campuses with additional requests or areas of support in ways that yield accelerated teacher growth and improved student achievement.

• Additional duties as assigned.

THE PERSON

We seek staff with a multitude of backgrounds, talents, interests, and ideas. Certain traits consistently shine through our most successful employees: passion for the mission, drive for results, care for students, and resilience. Other traits needed and desired for this role are:

THE MUST HAVES

• Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited four-year educational institution
• Minimum 3 years of exemplary secondary teaching experience, with a record of successfully impacting student achievement and working successfully with diverse students
• A valid Texas Teaching Certificate in a secondary specific certification area.
• Ability to work outside normal hours and weekends (minimum 1 Saturday a month)
• Ability to work secondary school hours
• Demonstrated knowledge of 6th-12th Grade Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS)
• Deep knowledge and experience in secondary specific:
  • Instructional planning and delivery strategies
  • Classroom management strategies
  • Assessment driven instruction
• Effective communication, collaboration, and interpersonal skills for building strong relationships.
• Demonstrated strength in time and task management.
• Demonstrated teacher leadership.
• Belief in and commitment to the mission and core value of YES Prep Public Schools
• Openness to giving and receiving frequent feedback
• Demonstrated ability to work on a team
• Ability to juggle multiple tasks and initiatives at once
• Ability to maintain emotional control under stress

THE MUST HAVE BELIEFS

• Belief in and commitment to the mission and core values of YES Prep Public Schools
• Desire to disrupt systemic status quos in education
• Willingness to go above and beyond to disrupt said status quos
• Passion to develop resiliency through a relentless pursuit of jaw-dropping results
• Conviction that high expectations + high accountability = high performance and high growth

THE NICE TO HAVES

• Experience with teacher supervision (as a department head, mentor, or coach)
• Strong knowledge of contributing factors that lead to an effective novice teacher development
• Strong content knowledge in secondary Math, Reading, Science, and Social Studies state assessed courses
• Experience designing and facilitating professional learning experiences for adult learners.
• Experience supporting diverse learners in a variety of settings.
• Master’s Degree

THE PERKS

• Compensation – This position is an exempt, salaried position; offers commensurate with experience.

• Health and Supplemental Insurance – A $0 monthly medical option or a $24 monthly option that includes $50 YES Prep Paid Health Savings Account contribution, in addition to a variety of supplemental benefits including Dental, Vision, Disability, Life, etc. Employees must work 20+ hours a week to be eligible for a full spectrum of benefits, and 10 hours a week minimum for medical benefits.

• Retirement Plans – Participation in Teacher Retirement System of Texas and an optional 457b Retirement Plan.

• Paid Time Off – Employees working 20+ hours a week receive 15 days of Paid Time Off in addition to the system closures during the Academic Calendar.

• Paid Leave Programming – In the event you need to be out due to medical needs (including maternity and paternity leave), YES Prep offers paid leave, paid out at 100%, based on eligibility and tenure.

• Professional Development - YES Prep values longevity and performance over time. We invest in developing leaders through high-quality programs, effective coaching, and ongoing professional development.

• Award Winning Culture – The strong cultures of our campuses and Home Office are just one of many reasons we were named Houston’s Best Place To Work in 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2025. We won the 2012 Broad Prize for Excellence in Urban Education and were a 2016 finalist as well.

YES Prep is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate against any employee or applicant on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender expression, national origin, disability, age, marital status, military status, pregnancy, or parenthood.