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Job Description

The Executive Director of the Office of Literacy leads the Colorado Department of Education’s efforts to improve literacy performance for students across the state.  The Executive Director oversees the Office of Literacy which is responsible for implementation of the state’s READ Act and statewide literacy initiatives. 

Major Duties and Responsibilities:

1. Lead the state’s efforts to meet the state’s literacy achievement goals to ensure that all students have a strong start, are proficient readers by third grade, meet or exceed state standards in literacy, and graduate ready for the literacy demands of career and college.
2. Serve as a statewide leader and advance a statewide vision on effective literacy instruction that delivers results for all students.
3. Lead the Office of Literacy and effectively deploy regional literacy consultants across the state.
4. Develop and manage the execution of a comprehensive work plan to implement the READ Act, HB 12-1238. 
5. Monitor and report on performance measures associated with the literacy work plan and make mid-course corrections as necessary to ensure that final grant deliverables are met. 
6. Support district success in implementation of relevant provisions of the READ Act.
7. Coordinate departmental collection, analysis, and reporting of all required data related to the READ Act.
8. Lead the continuous improvement of the state’s literacy resource bank to support the field in meeting the diverse literacy development needs of all of Colorado’s children.
9. Working with all relevant CDE units, lead the development, implementation and monitoring of the department’s literacy delivery plan, ensuring that all milestones are met and all deliverables are achieved.
10. Lead the department’s Literacy Leadership Team to ensure coherent, coordinated statewide implementation of the early literacy initiatives with the new standards, state assessment, educator effectiveness, and accountability and improvement.
11. Perform other duties as assigned.

Additional Info & Requirements

Qualifications:

• Advanced degree in literacy or relevant related area.
• Successful experience in educational settings including at the school and district level, with 5+ years in literacy-specific roles. 
• Demonstrated knowledge of scientifically-based reading research, and research-based practices related to early literacy development.
• Demonstrated ability to improve literacy achievement for all students within school and district settings.
• Proven ability to lead, implement, and monitor large-scale, multi-unit projects with accountability for measurable outcomes.
• Successful administrative and management experience leading a change effort, including proven planning and execution skills.
• Effective communication and conflict resolution skills.
• Knowledge of the importance of direct, explicit, systematic instruction in phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, oral language and written expression strategies.
• Knowledge of factors contributing to achievement gaps, targeted strategies for closing achievement gaps across all disaggregated student groups, and proven ability to apply research-based strategies that lead to improved achievement.
• Knowledge of the importance of teaching students to think critically as they read and utilize text to support their thinking as they write and engage in discourse.
• Knowledge of the Colorado Academic and English Language Proficiency Standards.
• Knowledge of the literacy assessment landscape, including assessments for screening, progress monitoring, formative assessment practice, and summative assessment.
• Knowledge of literacy development, assessment, and instruction for English language learners and students with disabilities grounded in research.
• Familiarity with the READ Act and department resources to support implementation.
• Ability to collaborate among diverse constituent groups and across multiple work teams.
• Demonstrated ability to work through ambiguity to bring clarity to roles and tasks to meet deliverables.
• Ability and willingness to travel.
• Ability to pass a criminal background check which includes a motor vehicle search.

The Community

As a dynamic service agency, the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) provides leadership, resources, support, and accountability to the state’s 178 school districts, 1,818 schools, close to 50,000 teachers and over 2800 administrators to help them build capacity to meet the needs of the state’s approximately 860,000 public school students.  CDE also provides services and support to boards of cooperative educational services (BOCES), early learning centers, state correctional schools, facility schools, the state’s libraries, adult/family literacy centers, and General Education Development (GED) testing centers reaching learners of all ages.  CDE operates the Colorado Talking Book Library which provides supports for people who have vision, print, and reading disabilities.  In addition, CDE provides structural and administrative support to the Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind and the Charter School Institute.

HR Info

Please email a completed Colorado Department of Education Employment Application, letter of interest, and resume to hr@cde.state.co.us. A confirmation will be sent out that HR has received your materials. If you do not receive a confirmation within 24 hours, please send an email to hr@cde.state.co.us

To obtain a Colorado Department of Education Employment Application, visit our website at http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdemgmt/HR/jobs.htm

All materials submitted should be current and specifically address the qualifications for this position. Hard copies of application materials and application materials sent via mail or fax will not be accepted.