Job Title: Director, Three to Five Learning

The Organization: Acelero, Inc.

Who We Are: Acelero, Inc. is a for-profit, mission-driven company that aims to improve school readiness for low-income children, by both directly operating Head Start programs and offering programmatic support to other Head Start grantees.

Established in 2001, Acelero, Inc. is made up of two divisions - Acelero Learning and Shine Early Learning. Acelero Learning provides direct Head Start services to more than 5,000 children and families in four states (delegates) – New Jersey, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Acelero Learning’s programs have been identified as a national exemplar , a model to the nation for early childhood education, and most significantly, has demonstrated best-in-class child outcomes gains , even during the pandemic.

Shine Early Learning (Shine), established in 2009, was created to scale the dissemination and utilization of Acelero Learning’s proven tools and approaches through partnerships to other Head Start programs nationally. In the past three years, Shine has further diversified its offerings through training, technical assistance, and consultation to publicly funded early childhood systems, including the launch of SPARK Learning Labs.

Our diverse employee workforce is made up of more than 1500 employees, comprising dedicated teachers, passionate family advocates, dynamic Center Directors and Coordinators, visionary senior leaders, and strategic executive leaders. Shine boasts partnerships across a wide expanse of states and territories throughout the country, ranging from Head Start grantees to comprehensive statewide systems. Together, we form a vibrant community committed to making a difference, fostering growth, and nurturing the potential in every child we serve.

The Current Landscape: At the forefront of educational innovation, Acelero Inc. is navigating a pivotal phase of strategic transformation, commenced in June 2021, with a clear vision to expand exponentially and dismantle inequities. Guided by the insights and leadership of a diverse and representative national Design Team, the company has meticulously crafted a new vision, mission, and core values, underpinned by a robust theory of change. This strategic evolution involves a deliberate restructuring of the organizational framework, positioning Acelero Inc. to achieve its objectives, and to surpass them significantly. Central to the company's ethos is an unwavering commitment to recognize and nurture every child's potential, ensuring no child is left behind due to systemic inequalities. Acelero Inc. is steadfast in its mission to empower families, fostering their ability to advocate effectively for their children and themselves. This period of transformative growth and commitment to equity presents a unique opportunity to contribute to Acelero Inc.'s journey towards shaping a more inclusive and empowering educational landscape.

The Purpose of the Role: This role is impactful by shaping the educational landscape through the development of an inclusive, high-impact curriculum for preschoolers. The Director of Three to Five Learning is responsible for the research, development, and refinement of a comprehensive, high-impact, anti-bias curriculum for preschool age students. In this role, you will work closely with education leaders, practitioners, curriculum writers, and with individuals across local and central teams. Additionally, this role requires the development and/or refinement of tools or products that are responsive to the changing needs of programs and practitioners aiming to meet the educational needs of preschool learners. This thought leader manages both people and time effectively, thrives in a fast-paced work environment, adapts quickly to change, and maintains a clear vision for curriculum and educational product development.

A Year in the Life:

Curriculum Development and Refinement

• Leads the development and continuous improvement of high-quality, inclusive, and anti-bias curriculum for preschoolers.

• Engages in data-informed learning by gathering diverse stakeholder input, reviewing trends in data, visiting partner programs to assess and understand partner experience and needs and to identify learning opportunities and potential innovations related to curriculum.

• Stays abreast on current research and science on 3-5 year old learning and development and uses this to inform curriculum development.

• Develops and employs processes for co-creation of curriculum approaches and prototypes with Acelero and Shine partners as necessary.

• Collaborates with the Director of Zero to Three Learning to enact the vision for 0-5 curriculum.

• Works with the PQ professional learning, family engagement and health and program services team (PSI) to support a diverse team of early childhood educators, coaches, and specialists.

• Collaborates with other company divisions and departments to:

  • Conduct on-site learning validation of curriculum prototypes and/or approaches.

  • Develop and employ processes for the ongoing research and evaluation of curriculum impact and user experience.

  • Embed family input and home learning experiences into curriculum development.

  • Align instructional strategies and coaching playbooks with curriculum implementation.

Strategic Direction for Three to Five Learning

• Establishes, maintains, and executes a vision for three to five learning.

• Infuses equity, diversity, and inclusion principles into all aspects of the early learning framework, ensuring that all children, families, and communities are represented and served equitably.

• Collaborates with the implementation team to design, implement and improve programmatic efforts within an equity and human-centered co-design framework.

• Stays abreast on issues impacting Acelero and Shine partners educational programming, outcomes and needs to inform product roadmap.

• Identifies and employs solutions to ensure current partners can meet local requirements, using Acelero's products and services.

• Ensures Acelero policies and procedures reflect current research and best practice.

• Collaborates within and across teams to share subject matter expertise and ensure continuous improvement of early learning program quality for preschoolers across varied partner programs and contexts.

• Communicates to inspire, educate, inform, and excite internal and external audiences of team-led innovations in three to five learning as they are envisioned, researched, designed, and implemented.

• Sets the vision and framework for Multi-Tiered Systems of Support for preschool aged children based on guidance provided by the Vice President, Early Learning.

• Participates in assigned meetings, events and training as required.

Contribute to Acelero, Inc. community of practice by:

• Demonstrating leadership in alignment of work and approach to company vision, mission, core values and the advancement of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging.

• Partnering in cross-network communications and development activities to advance Acelero’s strategic priorities.

Existing Curriculum & Assessment maintenance

• Provide ongoing virtual and in-person support -- training, office hours, tool development -- to support successful implementation of and access to existing curriculum and assessments for children ages 3-5.

• Ensure existing curriculum documents, including long-term plans, are maintained.

• Ensure accuracy and access to all early learning designed assessment documents (such as Acelero Learning Focused Assessment guides and packets, etc).

Supervision

• Supervises and engages learning specialist(s) and short-term contract positions responsible for enacting assigned projects related to three to five learning vision and roadmap.

  • Includes the following responsibilities, but are not limited to: hiring, training, scheduling, evaluating, and ensuring accuracy, timeliness, and the completion of all work performed.

• Educates direct reports on all department and company policies and procedures.

• Meets with assigned staff regularly to identify and resolve problems, manage projects, track goals, and review work processes and procedures.

• Represents team and/or department at meetings, events, and training as required.

Who should apply? (Requirements):

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education or related field with at least ten credits in ECE coursework; Master’s degree in Early Childhood Education or related field preferred.

• Minimum two years’ experience developing curriculum required; developing curriculum for young children preferred.

• Experience fostering and maintaining a collaborative team dynamic with a wide range of people and styles working together to set and achieve project goals.

When/Where/How Much:

Start Date: June/July 2024

Location/Travel: Remote Position, up to 25% travel for leadership meetings, design process, workshops.

Salary: $85,145 - $110,688

INTERESTED AND READY TO TAKE THE NEXT STEPS?

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We are an equal opportunity employer, committed to creating a diverse and healthy workplace.