Position Title:
Curriculum Leader, College and Career-Connected Learning Curriculum
Location:
Office of Academics
Salary:
$106,511 - $119,041
Reports to:
Senior Director, Accelerated Programs
Bargaining Unit:
OSAS
Benefits Eligible:
Yes
Telecommuting Eligibility:
Site-based. Not eligible for telecommuting
Position Summary
The Curriculum Leader, College and Career-Connected Learning, will lead curriculum development, instructional implementation, professional learning, and coaching for courses and academic support structures central to the District's High School Redesign initiative, including the Ninth-Grade Success Model Seminar and WIN (What I Need) academic support model, Advisory, and Dual Enrollment Lab. Reporting to the Senior Director of Accelerated Programs, the Curriculum Leader will advance the District's academic support and career exploration strategy by equipping teachers, teacher leaders, and school-based staff with the knowledge, resources, and instructional practices necessary to implement District curricula aligned with the Vision of Excellent Instruction and Tactical Improvement Plan (TIP) goals. Key responsibilities include guiding curriculum design and continuous improvement; developing and facilitating District-wide professional learning; implementing structured instructional coaching cycles; and supporting school teams in analyzing student performance data to inform instruction, target interventions, and monitor student progress. Through this work, the Curriculum Leader will ensure coherent, high-quality, data-driven academic support and career exploration experiences that strengthen student success, college and career readiness, and post-secondary pathways across DPSCD high schools.
Minimum Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Education, Curriculum and Instruction, Educational Leadership, or a related field required; Master's degree in Education, Counseling, Educational Leadership, or a related field preferred.
- Valid Michigan Teaching Certificate required.
- Minimum of five years of successful teaching experience.
- Demonstrated experience in teacher development, professional learning, and curriculum development.
- Experience designing or leading high school curriculum, advisory programs, or academic intervention initiatives.
- Demonstrated ability to analyze and use student data to inform instructional practices and targeted student interventions.
- Strong written and verbal communication skill.
- Strong instructional background with the ability to translate data into actionable student support plans.
- Ability to design curriculum and guidance resources usable consistently across a large, diverse set of schools.
- Ability to manage multiple tasks and prioritize appropriately, including coordinating multiple curriculum strands at once.
- Ability to work independently.
- Excellent interpersonal and collaboration skills to work with School Design Teams, teaching teams, school leaders, and central office Academics staff.
- Proven organizational skills, high attention to detail, and superior time management.
- Fluency with using digital tools, including Microsoft Office.
- Ability to manage, monitor, and ensure the integrity of instructional programs and core instructional materials implementation, using student data to drive coaching and support.
- Growth mindset, with commitment to ongoing learning and willingness to be flexible to meet evolving educator needs.
Essential Functions
- Leads the design, refinement, and districtwide implementation of the Seminar, Advisory, and Dual Enrollment Lab curricula, focused on essential academic and executive functioning skills, career exploration, and success planning. This includes developing resources that connect academic support planning to students' broader career exploration and postsecondary and career planning.
- Leads the implementation and continuous improvement of the District's Ninth-Grade Success :Model, establishing consistent expectations and structures that support students' successful transition to high school, academic achievement, and on-track progress toward graduation.
- Develops guidance, protocols, and resources for Ninth-Grade Success Teams to proactively monitor student performance, identify students who are on track, on watch, or off track, and coordinate timely academic interventions based on course performance, credit accumulation, attendance, and assignment completion.
- Establishes guidance for What I Need (WIN) academic support sessions aligned to five purposes: foundational skill building; concept recovery and targeted reteaching; getting back on track; practice, feedback, and revision; and enrichment and extension.
- Partners with the Office of Academics to develop WIN block activities and resources, including virtual tutoring, Edmentum concept recovery, small-group reteaching, and enrichment opportunities.
- Establishes data-review cycles to inform interventions and WIN assignments, including quarterly foundational-support reviews, monthly assessment and missing-assignment reviews, and weekly or biweekly student progress monitoring.
- Supports weekly ninth-grade cohort planning and monthly content-based PLCs to strengthen instruction, coordinate interventions, and monitor student progress.
- Designs and develops professional learning for teachers and school-based staff on Seminar, Advisory, Dual Enrollment Lab, and WIN implementation, in alignment with the District's strategy and Vision of Excellent Instruction.
- Develops and executes professional development designed to assist teachers with analyzing and acting upon student data from formative and summative standards-aligned assessments.
- Monitors and reviews existing professional development programs to ensure they are aligned with instructional needs.
- Drafts written guidance for curriculum initiatives and develops corresponding professional learning to support successful initiative implementation.
- Coordinates with professional development partners to enhance and support professional development workshops provided by District vendors.
- Ensures compliance with District policies and protocols related to professional development and curriculum initiatives by maintaining thorough and accurate records of teacher professional development session attendance.
- Supports school-based staff to implement strong Tier 1 instruction and interventions through ongoing teacher coaching cycles, lesson modeling, and targeted professional development.
- Develops individualized coaching plans for teachers that address instructional strengths and areas for growth, aligned with the Vision of Excellent Instruction and District improvement goals.
- Implements structured coaching cycles, including pre-conferences, observations, written coaching plans, and post-conferences.
- Provides ongoing guidance, professional learning, and playbooks to school leaders and teachers to support consistent, high-quality implementation.
- Maintains accurate and updated school support logs for a caseload of schools that outline the frequency and type of school support by teacher and school.
- Delivers high-impact, actionable feedback to teachers and teacher leaders that drives measurable improvements in instructional practice, making feedback visible to building-level leadership and senior leadership within the Office of Academics.
- Monitors instructional growth and program effectiveness through instructional rounds and classroom visits, analyzing student performance data, including formative and summative assessments, and using findings to inform and adjust coaching support.
- Partners with leaders on refinements to the model based on school feedback and outcome data.
- Fulfills other duties and responsibilities as assigned.
Security Clearance
Internal Applicants
If you are a current Detroit Public Schools Community District employee, you do not have to submit to a new security clearance, unless your new role requires a different type of criminal background check.
External Applicants
In alignment with Michigan law, if you are hired to fill a position, you will be required to submit to a Detroit Public Schools Community District criminal background check. Information regarding required background checks will be shared at point of hire.
DPSCD does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability and/or religion. Contact the Civil Rights Coordinator for more information at (313) 240-4377 or detroitk12.org/compliance.