K-12 Special Education D2D Substitute Teacher

POSITION:              Special Education Teacher 

POSITION TERM:    10 Months 

REPORTS TO:          Assistant Director of Special Education 

DATE:                     February 2020

Our Mission

The mission of the Agora Cyber Charter School is to provide an innovative, intensive academic preparation that inspires and educates students to achieve the highest levels of academic knowledge and skills. Agora embraces a collaborative partnership between teachers and parents in order to empower students to reach extraordinary heights. Extraordinary results require extraordinary efforts! With commitment, hard work, consistency and responsibility, every student will meet the challenge of mastering high expectations.

Our vision

To prepare all students to achieve their highest potential through actively engaging in their own schooling, achieving their personal learning goals, and cultivating success as lifelong learners.

Position Summary

The Agora Cyber Charter School special education teacher is a highly qualified and Pennsylvania state-certified teacher responsible for delivering specific course content and instruction in an online environment as described in the IEP.  Teachers will plan differentiated student learning opportunities, provide instruction, remediation, differentiation, support and guidance, manage the learning process and focus on students' individual needs based upon close analysis of student performance data. Teachers monitor student progress and work actively with students and parents to advance each child's learning. Teachers work closely with school level leadership, general education department members, grade level or content area peers, related service providers, and report directly to director and/or assistant director of special education. 

Essential Functions:

(Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.)

1. Planning and Preparation

1. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of state standards, aligned curriculum, PA Chapter 14 regulations, and Federal IDEA regulations.
2. Understand overall diversity of assigned families and individual student characteristics; specifically, how this will impact planning for personalized learning.
3. Use student data to drive instructional decision making and planning.
4. Plan to ensure the inclusion of highly engaging student-centered tasks and activities that fill gaps in foundational learning, expose students to collaborative learning experiences and lead to conceptual personalized understanding of content.
5. Utilizing a structured planning framework, submit lesson plans on a weekly basis that reflect a solid understanding of the content, the students, and available resources.
6. Provide small group differentiated planning that reflects personalized learning opportunities for students.
7. Provide instructional outcomes that represent important learning suitable to students.
8. Ensure elements of the instructional design, including assessments, are aligned to instructional objectives and goals.
9. Collaboratively plan with colleagues to meet the needs of all students
10. Analyze student data individually and collaboratively in order to drive instructional adaptations within the virtual learning environment

1. Virtual Classroom Environment

1. Create and manage home office
2. Establish and maintain positive rapport with students and families
3. Support students with setup and maintenance of their learning environment
4. Support students through basic computer troubleshooting
5. Demonstrate high expectations for student learning
6. Celebrate student individual and group accomplishments on a regular basis
7. Value student voice by intentionally providing opportunities for students to show high levels of engagement and motivation in their learning; to take ownership of their own learning and to serve as change agents in their own learning process
8. Ensure students collaborate with peers in a respectful, thoughtful manner
9. Set clear standards for student online conduct and enforce standards in a respectful manner
10. Build meaningful relationships online and face to face in order to facilitate a positive climate with your class by conducting orientation and attending school wide community events

III.     Instruction

1. Orient students to course and communicate course, unit and lesson outcomes on a routine basis
2. Utilize questioning, online discussion techniques, and differentiated synchronous student tasks to ensure all students are engaged in learning
3. Demonstrate flexibility in contributing to the success of the lesson and of each student. Adapt instruction in order to meet the learning needs of all students
4. Provide instruction and SDIs that meet IEP requirements for special education students in special education and inclusion environments
5. Set and enforce deadlines for student work
6. Support parents with student curricular and instructional issues
7. Be responsible for student academic progress and student attendance
8. Conduct conferences with students and parents/caregiver
9. Grade student work and maintain grade book
10. Be available to meet students and parents/caregiver face to face for necessary meetings and/or remediation
11. Recommend promotion and retention
12. Maintain regular contact with students and families
13. Prepare students for state required testing
14. Prepare for and facilitate IEP meetings for all students on caseload
15. Complete Progress Reports for students
16. Alert administrators to any concerns about student performance and progress

1. Professional Responsibilities

1. Maintain a special education roster, monitor compliancy of all special education documents, and follow all special education timelines.
2. Draft and prepare all special education documents for IEP meetings. Contact and schedule all attendees for IEP meetings.  Serve at the IEP meeting as the Special Education Teacher and lead the IEP meeting by presenting all draft documents to the IEP team.
3. Ensure implementation of special education students’ IEPs including but not limited to instruction, courses, assistive technology, transition, related services, materials, curriculum and supplemental programs, progress monitoring and reporting, specially designed instruction, and accommodations.
4. Maintain regular office hours, monitor student’s asynchronous work, conduct synchronous differentiated instructional classes, complete asynchronous & synchronous grading, take part in daily professional learning community meetings, participate in school meetings and maintain accurate records.
5. Demonstrate professionalism and high ethical standards in all interactions with students, parents/caregivers and staff members
6. Communicate with families on a frequent basis
7. Participate in new teacher induction training if you are in your first or second year of teaching, if you are new to Agora, and if you are new to virtual teaching
8. Engage in asynchronous and synchronous training and professional learning
9. Participate in observation/mentoring, coaching, and department meetings
10. Engage in reflective practices by completing self-evaluations and building & managing employee professional growth plan
11. Align professional goals with school wide goals and the Charlotte Danielson Framework for Teaching; participate in professional learning opportunities aligned with goals and Danielson Framework
12. Adhere and follow all procedures and policies set forth and established by Agora Cyber Charter School.
13. Attend and participate in school-wide events and school testing as required and assigned
14. Prepare reports as required
15. Proctor state and local assessment testing

Competencies:

• Technology Capacity
• Ethical Conduct
• Strategic Thinking
• Communications Proficiency
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Self-Motivated
• Ability to travel at least once per month within and between assigned geographic areas to support students, attend regularly scheduled meetings and participate in school activities, open houses and orientations
• Have the ability to learn new technology tools quickly (e.g., database and web-based tools)
• Have the ability to support and guide adults, as well as students
• Be able to travel to team meeting, professional developments, and school wide events
• Follow all State Testing security guidelines and Pennsylvania state law
• Be able to travel to administer mandated state assessments
• Ability to be flexible given the demands of the day and job
• Knowledge of Danielson’s Framework for Teaching, Pennsylvania and Common Core State Standards, and varied assessments
• Proven ability to use data to inform instruction

Work Environment

This job operates in a virtual environment.  This role routinely uses standard equipment such as computers, phones and printers.

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is occasionally required to stand; walk; sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel objects, tools or controls; reach with hands and arms; climb stairs; balance; stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl; talk or hear; and taste or smell.  The employee must occasionally lift or move up to 25 pounds.  Specific vision abilities required by the job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and the ability to adjust focus.

Required Education and Experience:

• Bachelor’s Degree
• Child Abuse Clearance (Current within the last year)
• Criminal History Clearance (Current within the last year)
• FBI Fingerprint Clearance (Current within the last year)
• Meets Pennsylvania’s ESSA requirements of being state-certified/licensed for subject and/or grade
• Have experience working with the proposed age groups and content area

Preferred Education and Experience:

• 3+ years teaching experience
• Experience in online teaching
• Experience using search engines such as Google Chrome
• Experience with Blackboard Collaborate, Google Sites, Open Educational Resources and LMSs
• Experience coordinating academically-oriented clubs and extracurricular activities
• Prior experience making academic progress with a range of student populations and needs

This position description does not state or imply that these are the only duties to be performed by the employee occupying this position.  The employee in this position will be required to follow any other instructions and to perform any other duties requested by his/her administrator(s) and/or supervisor(s).

Agora Cyber Charter School is an equal opportunity employer committed to providing employment opportunities to all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status.