Special Education Specialist

Company Description

About KIPP Texas Public Schools

KIPP Texas Public Schools is a network of 54 public charter, open-enrollment, pre-k-12 schools educating nearly 32,000 students across Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. Together with families and communities, our mission is to create joyful, academically excellent schools that prepare students with the skills and confidence to pursue the paths they choose - college, career, and beyond - so they can lead fulfilling lives and build a more fair world.

Founded in Houston in 1994 and operating as KIPP Texas since 2018, we are looking to hire a diverse team of dynamic, collaborative, and dedicated individuals with an unyielding belief that every child will succeed. Join a Team and Family with an unwavering commitment to creating classrooms, offices, and communities rooted in belongingness, academic success and joy. If you are passionate about joining a mission and values-driven community who wants every child to want to run to school, the KIPP Texas Team and Family is for you!

KIPP Public Schools is a national network of public charter schools that prepares students with the skills and confidence to create the future they want for themselves, their communities, and us all. We are a network of 278 schools with nearly 16,500 educators and 190,000 students and alumni.

Job Description

The Special Populations Specialist serves as a critical support to special populations faculty and school leaders, providing guidance in the areas of compliance, curriculum, and instruction. This role collaborates closely with instructional staff, regional curriculum teams, and school-based personnel to ensure the delivery of high-quality, individualized educational programs for students with diverse learning needs. By supporting effective teaching practices, ensuring adherence to legal and instructional standards, and ensuring compliance with IDEA and Texas State Education Law & Regulations, Section 504 Law & Regulations, the Special Populations Specialist helps advance the mission of KIPP Texas Public Schools-ensuring that every student has the tools and supportive environment necessary to thrive.

The Special Populations Specialist is responsible for delivering ongoing, campus-based instructional modeling and compliance training for teachers and instructional assistants who implement Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) for students receiving special education services and 504. This role supports the development of high-quality, inclusive instruction and ensures fidelity to both instructional best practices and legal requirements. In partnership with Senior Directors of Special Populations, the Specialist provides direct support to campuses and collaborates with regional teams to promote consistency and quality across the network.

Serving as a mentor and key point of contact, the Specialist builds teacher capacity and fosters a strong culture of collaboration, equity, and accountability in service of students with diverse learning needs.

General

Role Description

* Strategy:
Support the strategic vision to ensure that KTX school and regional teams implement the Special Education Strategic Plan and provide comprehensive improvement of school performance using a collaborative approach to clear and specific performance targets aligned to the Special Education Strategic Plan and execute, monitor, edit strategic plans, annual goals and quarterly benchmarking for departmental improvement.

* Communication:
Assists the Senior Director of special populations in ensuring KTX special populations teams are provided excellent communication, customer service and well-coordinated support.

* Legal Framework & Compliance:
Possess experience and knowledge of IDEA and Texas State Education Law & Regulations, Section 504 Law & Regulations and understanding of the essential elements of high performing MTSS systems and structures..

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Coaching and Support:

* Provide coaching to school-based special education managers and other staff that support special populations students across all grade bands, including self-contained classrooms on MTSS, 504, and Special Education.

* Provide support for special population compliance across the organization.

* Identify schools and teachers in need of more hands-on support and offer planning time and office hours for targeted assistance.

* Distill KTX instructional priorities into actionable steps for school-based staff and teachers to drive the work forward.

* Deliver and record model lessons to demonstrate effective instructional strategies and provide feedback.

2. Data Analysis and Improvement:

* Analyze school data including MTSS, 504, and ARD compliance to inform school based support and assistance.

* Analyze student data, including iready, IA, STAAR, and STEP assessments etc, to inform instructional decisions and interventions.

* Recognize patterns in student performance data and make recommendations for professional development and…