ROLE TITLE: Director; Texas Certification & Licensure

POSITION REPORTS TO: SMD, Partnerships, Cynthia Barajas

APPLICATION DEADLINE: Friday, August 2, 2024, by 11:59 pm ET

LOCATION: Texas (Austin, DFW, Houston, RGV, or San Antonio preferred)

WHAT YOU WILL DO

The Director of Certification & Licensure is charged with ensuring that Teach For America Texas corps members are equipped to provide an excellent education for every student, specifically by supporting them to fulfill the requirements necessary to receive an educator certificate in the state of Texas.

More specifically, you will partner with our educator preparation programs to understand corps member certification requirements, manage shared systems for tracking corps member completion, and partner with Matriculation Generalists (MDMG) and Leadership Development (MDLD) coaches to ensure corps members successfully complete the requirements and earn an educator certificate before the end of their two-year commitment. Ultimately, this role will spend the majority of their time supporting corps members in the completion of their certification requirements.

To be an ideal candidate for this role, you deeply value the students and community we serve and are passionate about realizing educational equity in Texas. You love and have strong project management skills and enjoy working collaboratively across multiple internal and external teams to achieve your vision and impact. You are comfortable with ambiguity and are a self-starter who operates with minimal oversight. Additionally, you are detail-oriented and excel at translating your passion for our mission into systems and communications that empower people to fulfill their responsibilities. Finally, you can be responsive and take swift action as we identify and address new opportunities and challenges.

WHAT YOU WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR

Collaborate with Educator Preparation Program Partners, Matriculation Generalists, Regional Partnership Leads, and Leadership Development Teammates to design supports for onboarding incoming CMs. (30%)

• Build and maintain strong relationships with educator preparation program partners, MDMGs, MDLDs, heads of program, and others across the state (e.g. Southern Methodist University, Houston ISD Alternative Certification Program, TOPP, and ACT-RGV)

• Partner with MDMGs, MDLDs, regional partnership leads, and others to ensure a smooth integration of key certification components into the arc of corps member learning and development from matriculation through the two-year commitment.

• In partnership with our VP of Texas Government Affairs and our national Public Partnerships team, develop insights regarding future changes to educator certification that would benefit our corps member experience and retention rates

Collaborate with leaders and teammates to ensure corps members complete their certification program and earn an educator certificate in Texas (60%)

• In collaboration with our educator preparation partners, build and/or manage tracking and operational systems that support corps members’ successful completion of their certification program.

• Collaborate with educator preparation program staff, regional partnership MDMGs, and MDLDs to support corps members that are struggling to fulfill their certification coursework requirements.

• Answer corps member and alumni questions pertaining to certification and licensure in Texas.

• Manage a budget for part-time staff capacity as needed throughout the year.

Ongoing Responsibilities (10%)

• Participate in corps members and alumni activities across the continuum including but not limited to corps member selection or matriculation, pre-service, alumni campaigns, ongoing AmeriCorps data collection and tracking, etc.

• Leverage regional and national resources (e.g. weekly newsletters, daily gift reports, etc.) and participate in statewide, regional and national committees/working groups/project teams

• Prepare for and engage in ongoing check-ins, team meetings, and professional development structures

• Serve as an “all hands on deck” team member willing to support regions in various ways as needs and opportunities arise, which embodies the spirit of the TFA Texas team.

• Occasional weekend or evening work hours required

• Travel may be required in the future

A WEEK IN THE LIFE

Over the course of any week, the Director, Certification, and Licensure will spend time:

• Meeting with their manager to discuss updates on projects aligned to supporting corps members to achieve an educator certificate. Work collaboratively to celebrate successes, identify challenges, and engage in analysis to determine effective solutions.

• Meeting with educator preparation program staff (external), and partnership leads for each region (internal and others to ensure key steps related to certification and licensure in each region are accounted for in our plans and trackers and share CM progress.

• Engage in independent thinking time to create and update project plans aligned to critical workstreams, including, but not limited to, corps member certification compliance, educator preparation program review, and planning meetings with educator preparation program partners.

• Maintain tracking tools of corps member status on various components of licensure completion.

• Reach out to corps members to ensure completion of any outstanding action steps aligned to certification such as enrollment in coursework

• Trouble-shoot challenges corps members encounter in partnering with educator preparation programs, such as around registration, paying for their coursework with AmeriCorps, etc.

• Write and send an update to broader teams on Slack or via email to share progress toward regional goals and key performance indicators

• Meet with individual corps members or groups of corps members to build relationships, learn more about their individual and collective experiences, and design approaches and/or improvements to the implementation of educator preparation programs in Texas.

• Monitor proceedings of the State Board of Educator Certification (SBEC) and communicate with internal and external stakeholders regarding the potential impacts of evolving requirements on our corps member program

YOUR EXPERIENCE

Your areas of knowledge and expertise that matter most for this role (minimum qualifications):

• You know the students and community we serve and are passionate about realizing educational equity in Texas

• You have expertise managing multiple projects at once and working collaboratively across multiple internal and external teams to achieve your vision and impact.

• You have knowledge & experience of the educator licensure or certification processes in Texas

• You are comfortable with ambiguity and a self-starter who operates with minimal oversight

• You are detail-oriented and excel at translating your passion for our mission into tracking systems and communications strategies that compel diverse stakeholders

• Teach For America experience (staff or corps) and/or public education experience

• 2-5 years of aligned work experience

• Bachelor’s degree required

• Certification in project management, or equivalent work experience preferred

Bonus (Preferred Qualifications):

• Prior certification knowledge/experience

• Prior teaching experience

• Prior relationship with SMU Certification or other Texas Certification program

• A Growth Mindset that enables them to understand the nuance of certification and holding space for individual and unique situations

YOUR FUTURE TEAM

Teach For America’s superpower is finding, developing, and supporting exceptional and diverse leaders, individually and in teams, so they can transform education and expand opportunities for children, starting in the classroom. In 1991, we began our work in Texas with 200 first-year teachers; today, our network has grown to nearly 4,750 leaders, with over 2,600 leading in the K-12 system.

As part of Team Texas, you will be alongside 40 other colleagues who are working to expand opportunities for children in Texas, especially in Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, the Rio Grande Valley, and San Antonio.

YOUR COMPENSATION

The applicable salary range for each U.S.-based role is based on where the employee works and is aligned to one of 3 tiers according to a cost of labor index in that geographic area. Starting pay for the successful applicant will depend on a variety of job-related factors, which may include education, training, experience, location, business needs, or market demands. New hires are typically brought into the organization at a salary between the range minimum and the salary range midpoint depending on qualifications, internal equity, and the budgeted amount for the role. The expected salary ranges for this role are set forth below. These ranges may be modified in the future.

Salary

Tier A: $65,700-$101,100

Tier B: $73,600-$110,200

Tier C: $79,700-$119,400

You can view which tier applies to where you plan to work here. If your location is not listed, please click here for additional total rewards information.