Inspiring Minds Job Description
Job Title: KidsBridge Early Childhood Special Education Teacher
Range $30-$50/hr
Status: Seasonal, Full Time July-August, part-time negotiable
Location: Providence Public Elementary School
Reports to: Director of Student Enrichment
To Apply: Email your resume and cover letter to jobs@inspiringmindsri.org
About Us: Inspiring Minds is a non-profit education agency founded in 1963. We are a student-centered organization, ensuring our programs promote positive outcomes for the youth we serve.
Inspiring Minds Mission: Inspiring Minds empowers students to succeed and thrive in school and life by developing trusted relationships with community members who are knowledgeable of the culturally responsive, academic, and socio-emotional needs necessary for student success.
Vision: Inspiring Minds is an antiracist organization committed to closing equity gaps based on race, ethnicity, first language, and economic status that impact RI students and families. We believe in the power of relationships, and that caring and committed adults can empower our students to achieve with the right guidance, training, and support.
Inspiring Minds delivers effective programs that build academic and social-emotional skills using a developmental relationships framework. We serve a diverse population of exceptional, intelligent, and resilient students. We believe all students deserve an educational environment that fosters a sense of belonging and purpose shared with everyone who is part of the school community and the community at large.
We recognize the impact that systematic barriers such as racism, poverty, housing insecurity, and hunger have on learning, especially in under-resourced schools. Therefore, we partner with school districts, higher education institutions, civic groups, and the community to provide quality programs that empower students to succeed and thrive in school and life.
Only extraordinary people work here. Our goals are ambitious but achievable. We have high expectations for ourselves, our students, and our volunteers. We do whatever it takes to achieve our mission ethically. Our ideal candidate is someone who works hard and will have fun while dreaming big.
MAIN DUTIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:
The Early Childhood Special Educator will support the classroom teachers by providing additional support and resources to our students who require special education services. Our program serves rising kindergartners in a full-day, six-week summer learning program.
- Demonstrate mastery of related subject matter, instructional skills, and resource materials for course(s) taught.
- In collaboration with the school district and families, support students’ access to evaluations, assessments for special needs to determine skill levels and functional capabilities.
- Complete appropriate accommodation forms.
- Review 504s and IEPs and support teachers to modify lessons and revise the standard curriculum to match children’s functional capacity and accommodations.
- Meet with parents and others to review goals and assess progress.
- Use assessments for planning and
- Collect data as appropriate for each child and accommodation.
- Co-teach or consult in integrated learning settings as appropriate.
- Create materials to assist teachers in implementing accommodations.
- Work with students one-on-one or in small groups if appropriate in imitation, repetition, step-by-step problem solving, social-emotional learning, or other identified skills.
- Support teachers to maintain a safe, organized classroom that supports students’ independent learning, collaboration, and choice.
- Support teachers to monitor and maintain a positive classroom environment that supports the school-wide behavior expectation in which most students are engaged, incorporates mutual respect, and provides cooperative learning opportunities.
- Utilize a variety of effective instructional and management techniques.
- Provide consistent, immediate feedback to student learning and asks analytical questions that elicit students’ responses that incorporate prior knowledge, life experience, and interests that are directly related to the content
- Uses available technology/instructional media to enhance the student’s learning
- Establish and maintain appropriate relationships with students, parents, staff, and community members by communicating tactfully, courteously, and confidentially.
- Maintain a professional appearance and demonstrates behavior that is conscientious and
- Engage parents and guardians thoughtfully in their children’s education utilizing culturally-competent practices.
- Communicate verbally and in writing with families and teaching teams to ensure that students’ accommodations and goals are shared and that progress and communications are documented.
- Do not engage in discriminatory practices, including race, origin, gender, socio-economic status, disability, religion, or political
- Perform other job-related duties as
Other Required Responsibilities
- Participate in antiracist and department professional development. Recognize vulnerability, both in yourself and in others.
- Adhere to organizational policies and protocols. Challenge them by lifting your voice and the voice of the community.
- Listen and learn from our community. Research and implement best practices.
- Support the organization’s fundraising events. Inspiring Minds pays all staff for working at fundraising events.
QUALIFICATIONS:
- You believe all students can succeed with the right resources and support.
- You exemplify our core values of continuous learning, antiracism and equity.
- You are able to describe your personal and professional racial equity journey related to undoing racism and dismantling oppression in marginalized communities. You can readily share your learnings from various resources that have most profoundly led you to learn about antiracism and anti-oppression.
- You are skilled at lifting up the power and promise of marginalized groups vs. focusing on the problems and pathologies put on them by the dominant society.
- Bachelor’s Degree required, Master’s Degree preferred, and
- Rhode Island PreK-2 Teaching Certification, Special Education Endorsement preferred. Education or experience may substitute for endorsement.
KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS:
- You have excellent verbal and written communication.
- You know how to slow down and help your colleagues pause to disrupt any false sense of urgency or push for productivity at the expense of personal and collective well-being.
- You are skilled at prioritizing and setting boundaries so you can focus on each project with clarity and a feeling of accomplishment.
- You have a working knowledge and application of appropriate early childhood teaching strategies and methods.
- You have basic computer skills in operating a personal computer utilizing various software applications and equipment.
- You take ownership of the achievement results of your students.
- You build effective relationships and communications with co-workers, vendors, students, parents, the general public, and others having business with Inspiring Minds.
- You show respect for all children and families.
- You are dedicated to improving curriculum and instruction through data analysis, collaboration, reflection, feedback, best practices, and regular assessment.
OTHER REQUIREMENTS:
- Attend and actively participate in pre-service training. Attend weekly staff
- Must be able to pass background clearance
- Must be certified in Pediatric CPR and First Aid or complete the course provided by Inspiring Minds prior to working directly with students.
- Submit bi-weekly timesheet for approval.
To Apply: Email your resume and cover letter to jobs@inspiringmindsri.org