Associate Director, Periodic Assessments
Tracking Code
2879
Job Description: This is an exciting time for New York City public education and there is incredible opportunity for impact and learning in the Office of Accountability. Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Klein have made accountability an essential element of New York City's education reform effort. Over the next three years, the NYC Department of Education will drive and support the creation of more robust accountability tools through the Office of Accountability. Established in January 2006, the Office of Accountability is in the process of developing and implementing the tools and supports in 332 Empowerment Schools while planning for the system-wide rollout of the initiative for the 2007-2008 school year.
The New York City school system is the largest in the country, composed of approximately 1,100,000 students and 90,000 part-time and full-time teachers in over 1,400 schools. In January 2003, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Chancellor Joel I. Klein launched Children First: A New Agenda for Public Schools in New York City, a multi-year reform effort aimed at significantly improving student achievement through effective teaching and learning. Over the last three years, many schools began administering ELA, Math, and English Language Learner interim assessments three times each school year in grades 3-8. More frequent formative assessments are being administered this year in grades K-12 in the 300+ Empowerment Schools. Starting with the 2007-2008 school year, with the onset of the next phase of the Children First reforms, the Periodic Assessment Program will be implemented in all schools citywide.
The data on student understanding, provided through the Periodic Assessment Program, will enable educators to analyze student performance and curriculum relative to high learning expectations for students, including the skills embedded in the New York State Standards and further extension of higher-order thinking skills. The formative assessments will provide educators with the ongoing and timely information they need in order to differentiate instructional support for students, better target classroom instruction, plan their curriculum, implement professional development, and monitor student learning and progress over time.
The role of the Associate Director will involve overall management specific to the formative assessment tools to ensure the highest quality, effective implementation, and meaningful use by educators.
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
* Responsible for directing the development of one or multiple assessment tools for use in the schools, including managing the internal and external schedules and resource allocation in areas such as content, technology, cross-functional flow of student data, and professional development
* Develop and manage overall implementation, administration, and ongoing continuous improvement of the program
* Responsible for management of the vendor relationship, delivery against milestones, monitoring key performance indicators, Service Level Agreement, overseeing customer service and support, proactively identifying potential problems and collaboratively problem-solving with the vendor, and gathering and incorporating educator/user input to improve the assessment program and administration
* Available to address questions and support educators/end users on administration and interpretation of information gathered from assessments
* Responsible for managing the budget of the assessment programs
* Monitor and encourage usage, identify support needed by schools to effectively administer assessments, access and interpret results, and use the information to inform instruction
* Coordinate with other Associate Directors and Director of Periodic Assessments to help ensure coherence across multiple assessment instruments, shared lessons learned, and best support educators/users
* Direct supervision of an Implementation Manager dedicated to the day-to-day implementation of the assessment tools
Required Skills
Minimum
* A bachelors degree and 6 plus years of relevant work experience with 18 months managerial experience or a masters degree and 4 years of relevant work experience with 18 months managerial experience
* Demonstrated experience managing the administration, development and implementation of a product or program
* Ability to supervise and administer a program that is citywide in scope
* Experience managing vendor relationships to implement high quality program, product, or service
* Strong strategic thinking, project management skills, attention to detail, and ability to proactively identify key issues and risks
* Strong customer-service and problem-solving approach
* Ability to build strong working relationships with constituents and represent the Office of Accountability internally and externally Budget management experience
* Proven ability to learn quickly and continuously
* Excellent oral and written communication skills
Preferred
* Prior experience creating, developing and deploying products, programs, or applications
* Experience or working knowledge of the public sector and/or demonstrated interest in public education
* Experience as a teacher or in education a plus
* Experience in consulting, banking, or private equity
Required Experience
NOTE: The filling of all positions is subject to budget availability.
AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER
It is the policy of the Department of Education of the City of New York to provide educational and employment opportunities without regard to race, color, religion, creed, national origin, alienage and citizenship status, age, marital status, disability, prior record of arrest or conviction (except as provided by law), sexual orientation, gender (sex), and to maintain an environment free of discriminatory harassment, including sexual harassment, or retaliation as required by civil rights law. Inquiries regarding compliance with this equal opportunity policy may be directed to: Office of Equal Opportunity, 65 Court Street, Room 923, Brooklyn, New York 11201, or visit the OEO website at www.schools.nyc.gov/oeo.
