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Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is one of the largest school districts in the United States, serving over 320,000 students in 600+ schools and employing approximately 40,000 people, most of them teachers. CPS has set ambitious goals to ensure that every student, in every school and every neighborhood, has access to a world-class learning experience that prepares each for success in college, career, and civic life.  To fulfill this mission, we make three commitments to our students, their families, and all Chicagoans: academic progress, financial stability, and integrity.  Six core values are embedded within these commitments – student-centered, whole child, equity, academic excellence, community partnership, and continuous learning.

The Office of Language and Cultural Education (OMME) guides CPS in providing a high-quality education for all language learners attentive to a culturally and linguistically diverse community of students, families, and educators. OMME aims to achieve its mission through strategic planning, collaborative partnerships, professional development, and the production of tools and resources to improve instruction.

Job Summary: 

The English Learner (EL) Instructional Specialist, Biliteracy will play an important role in enhancing and improving the learning experience of English learners (ELs) across the district. This position will focus on building capacity among various stakeholders, providing instructional support and professional learning, co-developing and refining biliteracy curriculum, and contributing to the development and implementation of high-quality instruction for ELs in grades PreK-12 with a focus on literacy development in more than one language. The EL Instructional Specialist, Biliteracy will report to the EL Instructional Manager.

The EL Instructional Specialist, Biliteracy will be held accountable for the following responsibilities:

• Collaborate with district staff, administrators, and EL Program Teachers to provide comprehensive instructional support to elevate biliteracy development for English Learners
• Research, evaluate, and make recommendations on curricula, instructional methods, assessments, technology, and materials for ELs in both native language and English contexts
• Conduct classroom observations and data analysis to assess EL program effectiveness and identify areas for improvement
• Contribute to the district's framework for effective EL instruction
• Support the development of standard tools and resources demonstrating effective biliteracy practices for ELs across content areas and contexts
• Utilize EL data to inform biliterate instructional development:
• • Analyze student performance data related to English Learners.
  • Identify trends and patterns to inform instructional strategies and interventions in literacy in English and Spanish
  • Collaborate with educators to develop targeted approaches for improving EL learning outcomes
• Develop and facilitate professional development to teachers, administrators, and school staff,  promoting biliteracy best practices for EL instruction with a focus on developing biliteracy, bilingual teaching strategies, language acquisition, cultural competence
• Engage in interoffice and cross-departmental collaboration on professional development, district initiatives, resources, and projects
• Contribute to biliteracy guidance, resources, and policy to ensure a consistent instructional vision is promoted within and across content areas
• Maintain content area expertise through staying abreast of current research, practices, and innovation in the field
• Contribute to the continuous improvement of Skyline through the completion of tasks such as:
• • Supporting curriculum design team to develop and refine curriculum aligned with district standards, state frameworks, and best practices
  • Ensuring curriculum integrates culturally relevant content and diverse perspectives to foster inclusivity and equity
  • Evaluating professional learning outcome data to inform future professional learning needs
  • Identifying, documenting, and offering solutions around barriers to successful implementation through common progress monitoring systems
  • Participating in centralized feedback structures to inform curriculum revision
• Other duties as assigned

To be successful and achieve the above responsibilities, the EL Instructional Specialist, Biliteracy must possess the following qualifications: 

Education Required: 

• Bachelor’s degree in Education, Bilingual Education, English as a Second Language, or related field from an accredited college or university is required
• Valid teaching certificate/Professional Educator’s License (PEL) issued by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) with Bilingual Education - Spanish endorsement is required. (Candidates with a valid out-of-state, reciprocal license will be considered but must obtain ISBE licensure within 6 months of hire.)
• Master’s degree in a related field of study, preferred

Experience Required: 

• Minimum of five (5) years of classroom teaching experience with English Learners, including the following, is required:
• • Experience developing and/or facilitating professional learning experiences
  • Experience in standards-based instructional planning
  • Experience teaching literacy in English and Spanish

Other Requirements:

• Travel to schools and other locations across the district, and access to reliable transportation to travel to/between worksites is required
• Bilingual or multilingual fluency, including the ability to present to various stakeholders in both English and Spanish, is required

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: 

• Excellent interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills
• Ability to establish efficient, collaborative relationships and communicate effectively with a variety of internal and external stakeholders including CPS colleagues, district and school staff, and community-based organizations
• Self-starter with excellent time management and organizational skills; ability to effectively manage several work streams simultaneously, producing high-quality deliverables while working across multiple teams
• Expertise in the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts and Spanish Language Arts, WIDA ELD and/or SLD Standards
• Understanding of literacy in content areas as well as first and second language literacy development
• Proficiency in providing high-quality instruction in native and/or English language
• Ability to design and implement differentiated instruction to meet the diverse needs of English learners, including those with varying proficiency levels
• Expertise in planning, designing, facilitating, and evaluating professional learning 
• Strong problem-solving skills, ability to delegate, and recognition of failures as opportunities for improvement
• Proficient in the use of various technology tools and software, including Google Workspace and Microsoft Office; ability to develop proficiency with CPS applications

Conditions of Employment

As a condition of employment with the Chicago Public Schools (CPS), employees are required to:

• Establish/Maintain Chicago Residency -Employees are required to live within the geographic boundaries of the City of Chicago within six months of their CPS hire date and maintain residency throughout their employment with the district. The Chicago residency requirement does not apply to temporary/part-time positions, however, all CPS employees must be residents of Illinois.
• Be Fully Vaccinated Against COVID-19 -Unless approved for a medical or religious exemption, all employees are required to be up-to-date on COVID-19 vaccinations, including boosters, and to submit proof of vaccination to the district within 30 days of hire. “Up-to-date” on vaccination is defined as being at least two weeks past all primary vaccine doses and any applicable boosters.