Working title:

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT DEVELOPER & IMPLEMENTOR

Official title:

OUTREACH SPECIALIST(S92DN) or ASSOC OUTREACH SPEC(S92FN)

Degree and area of specialization:

Master's degree preferred in education, education administration, public policy, or related field. PhD preferred.

Minimum number of years and type of relevant work experience:

Three - five years experience in creating and facilitating professional development training and materials for adult learners. Specific knowledge and experience in adult learning and professional development training required. Experience working with educational systems as a professional developer or administrator. Excellent verbal, written, organizational, project management, and interpersonal skills required. K-12 teaching experience and group facilitation skills a plus. Experience in education or social research with an understanding of statistics and educational data, preferable. Candidates should be detail oriented and innovative in their approach to developing training and providing presentations to a variety of audiences.

Broad experience in educational professional development with expertise or experience in the following skills:
* Proficiency with Microsoft Office suite and presentation software required.
* Comfort with using data and interpreting statistics, and open to learning more in this area.
* Knowledge of adult learning concepts and pedagogy.
* Knowledge of K-12 educational systems, and district and school operations.
* Understanding of school and instructional improvement processes.
* Group presentation, training, and facilitation skills.

Principal duties:

This position will participate in an expansion of the WCER Value-Added Research Center's research and outreach program with the Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) and the Chicago Public Schools to develop and implement a professional development system to facilitate understanding, interpretation, and use of value-added information by a variety of district staff. The professional development outreach builds directly on 10 years of research conducted by the Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER). Over this period WCER and MPS have forged a strong partnership that has led to the creation of a sophisticated system for measuring, tracking, and reporting the value-added productivity of MPS classrooms and schools that is the core of the district's school report card and accountability system. This system is now being adapted for use with the Chicago Public Schools with support from the Joyce Foundation and other institutions. Over time, the VARC professional development outreach will expand to other states, LEAs, and districts.

Principal duties:
* Work collaboratively with WCER researchers and school district leaders to plan, develop, coordinate, and deliver training of K-12 staff in understanding, interpreting, and using value-added analysis results.
* Integrate and customize PD training and materials to a variety of K-12 settings and audiences.
* Create training materials and resources for VARC professional development (PD), customized to meet local district needs.
* Facilitate, coach and model a train-the-trainer delivery model to provide professional development services to develop a cadre of district "data emissaries" who will in turn train school administrators, teacher leaders, and teachers in understanding and application of value-added.
* Present and explain value-added analysis results and application to a variety of educational audiences.

Additional Information:
Periodic travel may be required.