Literacy Coach, Alpha - $120,000/year USD

Crossover; Malibu (CA); On-site; USD 102,000 - 138,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, dental, and vision coverage (1

Job summary

Alpha reimagines the school day for faster learning with AI-adaptive apps and targeted small-group interventions. As a Literacy Coach, you design sessions from student data, lead motivation activities, and track progress weekly to guide student growth across phonics, fluency, and comprehension.

You will work in person full-time at Alpha campuses in Malibu, CA, and other locations, delivering measurable reading outcomes and reporting progress to campus leadership.

Qualifications

• Structured-literacy certification (Orton-Gillingham, LETRS, Wilson Reading System, IMSE, CERI, Neuhaus, UFLI, or equivalent) OR a Master's degree in reading instruction
• Bachelor's degree in any discipline, plus 2+ years of full-time K-3 structured reading instruction in a school or clinical environment within the past 5 years
• Proven capacity to design original reading lessons and clearly explain what you teach and your instructional approach, without depending on a published program
• Availability to work in person full-time at an Alpha campus: Beverly Hills, CA; La Jolla (San Diego), CA; Malibu, CA; Palo Alto, CA; Piedmont, CA; San Francisco, CA; Santa Monica, CA; Seattle, WA; Greenwich, CT; Boston, MA; or New York City, NY (relocation assistance available)
• Readiness to work with all K-3 students and incorporate AI and adaptive-learning technologies into daily instruction as these tools develop
• Legal authorization to work in the U.S. without visa sponsorship

Responsibilities

• Create small-group K-3 reading sessions using real-time adaptive-app data rooted in structured-literacy approaches
• Facilitate daily motivation sessions driving 100% of students toward weekly app targets using Alpha's framework
• Analyze AI-generated performance metrics to modify instruction during the day
• Conduct running records, fluency assessments, and decoding evaluations to show progress in campus data reviews
• Serve as the approachable, dynamic adult for K-3 students daily

Skills

Structured literacy instruction

In-person teaching

Data-driven instruction

Lesson design

Education

Bachelor's degree + 2+ years K-3 instruction

Structured-literacy certification OR Master's in reading instruction

Tools

Amira

Lexia

i-Ready

Reading Plus

Job description

• $120,000 annual salary, paid weekly, with health, dental, and vision coverage starting on day one
• Full-time on-site at a single Alpha campus: Beverly Hills, CA; La Jolla (San Diego), CA; Malibu, CA; Palo Alto, CA; Piedmont, CA; San Francisco, CA; Santa Monica, CA; Seattle, WA; Greenwich, CT; Boston, MA; or New York City, NY (relocation assistance available)
• 40-hour workweek, entirely in-classroom with K-3 students

Your structured-literacy training — Orton-Gillingham, LETRS, Wilson, IMSE, or a Master's in reading instruction — has opened doors to every K-3 reading position you've pursued. In most roles, though, it also marked the endpoint: you executed a pre-designed program and tracked results. Here, that credential is where you begin. If that difference resonates with you, continue reading.

Alpha has redesigned conventional instruction. Students advance through academic content independently using AI-adaptive applications. No traditional lectures, textbooks, or pacing calendars. Your position is the one area where a human specialist cannot be replaced. You build 20-minute small-group sessions based on live app analytics; sessions are intentionally brief, because targeted intervention outperforms duration. You also lead motivation sessions designed to guide 100% of your students toward their weekly app targets using Alpha's motivational framework (school currency, leaderboards, developmentally appropriate gamification). You catch a student's error during a session, identify the phonemic deficit, and reconfigure tomorrow's workshop before the day ends. That is the expectation.

Families enrolling at these campuses have selected Alpha for measurable results, not simply enrollment. Parents review weekly reports on their child's reading progress and hold strong opinions. You will face direct inquiries about individual student advancement, and vague reassurances will not suffice. You will need to reference the running record, identify the phonemic weakness, and describe your intervention plan. That level of accountability should energize you, not burden you.

Your initial months center on proving your effectiveness. Workshops must be engaging, appropriately leveled, and demonstrably successful; student satisfaction and "love your Guide" survey results (goal of 90%+) provide direct feedback. Once you establish credibility, your influence extends beyond your own classroom: strategies that succeed with your students become templates for other Alpha campuses, and your diagnostic precision informs how reading instruction scales as Alpha expands. Your contributions reach well beyond your immediate setting.

Prior to hiring, you will submit a short video in which you tell a captivating story for young children, and you will spend a full day on campus working directly with K-3 students. Low energy with children will disqualify you, regardless of your credentials. This is intentional.

What You Will Be Doing

• Creating small-group K-3 reading sessions using real-time adaptive-app data, rooted in structured-literacy approaches (Orton-Gillingham, Wilson, LETRS, IMSE, or equivalent)
• Facilitating daily motivation sessions that drive 100% of your students toward their weekly app targets using Alpha's motivational framework (school currency, leaderboards, age-appropriate gamification)
• Analyzing AI-generated performance metrics (fluency trajectories, decoding precision, comprehension indicators) to modify instruction during the day, not solely during planning periods
• Conducting running records, fluency assessments, and decoding evaluations to generate progress visible in weekly campus data reviews
• Serving as the approachable, dynamic adult your K-3 students are excited to see each day

What You Won’t Be Doing

• Implementing a published reading curriculum, scripted lesson plan, or district pacing calendar; you create lessons directly from student data
• Delivering whole-class lectures; all teaching occurs in small, targeted groups while students complete academic subjects through adaptive apps
• Serving as a reading consultant, instructional coach for other teachers, or district-level specialist; you are in the classroom with children daily
• Managing a conventional classroom schedule: subject-by-subject lectures, homework checks, test preparation. Your scheduled time is devoted to workshops, motivation sessions, and data-informed small groups
• Drafting IEPs, 504 plans, or formal diagnostic reports; student advancement is tracked through app data and your running records, not special-education documentation

Literacy Coach Key Responsibilities

Generate measurable reading progress in K-3 students across phonics, fluency, and comprehension within a campus culture where outcomes are assessed weekly.

Basic Requirements

• Structured-literacy certification (Orton-Gillingham, LETRS, Wilson Reading System, IMSE, CERI, Neuhaus, UFLI, or equivalent) OR a Master's degree in reading instruction
• Bachelor's degree in any discipline, plus 2+ years of full-time K-3 structured reading instruction in a school or clinical environment within the past 5 years, employing systematic phonics or structured literacy
• Proven capacity to design original reading lessons and clearly explain what you teach and your instructional approach, without depending on a published program
• Availability to work in person full-time at an Alpha campus: Beverly Hills, CA; La Jolla (San Diego), CA; Malibu, CA; Palo Alto, CA; Piedmont, CA; San Francisco, CA; Santa Monica, CA; Seattle, WA; Greenwich, CT; Boston, MA; or New York City, NY (relocation assistance available)
• Readiness to work with all K-3 students (not exclusively struggling readers) and incorporate AI and adaptive-learning technologies into daily instruction as these tools develop
• Legal authorization to work in the U.S. without visa sponsorship

Nice-to-have Requirements

• Practical experience with AI-driven or adaptive reading platforms (e.g., Amira, Lexia, i-Ready, Reading Plus) for instructional planning or student data interpretation
• Documented history of measurable reading outcomes (fluency gains in WCPM, accuracy improvements, decoding level progressions) you can quantify
• Familiarity with diagnostic reading assessments (DRA, DIBELS, AIMSweb) for creating differentiated instructional groups
• Experience in high-accountability educational settings (independent schools, elite charter networks, premium tutoring environments with families who closely monitor outcomes)
• Background in performance, youth sports coaching, or otherwise engaging a K-3 audience beyond the reading classroom

About Alpha

Join the team building school around student growth

Alpha reimagines the school day around faster learning, stronger mentorship, and more time for students to build real-world skills.

Roles with real student impact:

Alpha hires teachers (guides), operators, admissions experts, school & curriculum leaders, and remote team members.

Education work that pays like it matters:

Alpha offers six-figure roles for people ready to help build a radically better school experience.

A culture built for builders:

Alpha is fast-moving, ambitious, and student focused. It's for people who want to improve the system, not maintain it.

Alpha is where you can do the most meaningful work of your career.

There is so much to cover for this exciting role, and space here is limited. We look forward to meeting you!

Working with us

This is a full-time, W2 employee position with immediate access to benefits (https://support.crossover.com/article/7581-w2-benefits-u-s-paychex-paid-only). All roles are year-long positions. The compensation level for this role is $120,000 USD/year. The payment period is weekly. Consult www.crossover.com/help-and-faqs for more details on this topic.

Crossover Job Code: LJ-5632-US-Malibu-LiteracyCoach.007