Program Specialist in Curriculum and Instruction

Advertising Summary: The Virginia Department of Education's Training and Technical Assistance Center (T/TAC) at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) housed in the Partnership for People with Disabilities in the School of Education has a mission to improve educational opportunities and contribute to the success of children and youth with disabilities (ages birth to 22) by increasing the capacity of school personnel, service providers, and families to meet the needs of children & youth with disabilities and to foster the state improvement goals for personnel development, which address improving the performance of children and youth with disabilities by enhancing the knowledge, skills, abilities, and performance of all personnel who work with them in Superintendent's Regions 1 and 8 of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

We are seeking an experienced and dynamic professional as a Program Specialist in Curriculum and Instruction for personnel serving children and youth with disabilities. The professional will join a team of Program Specialists who provide training and technical assistance to schools, school divisions, and state-operated programs in the central and southside Virginia regions. This twelve-month University and Academic Professional position is grant-funded.

(This funding is typically received on an annual basis, and the position is currently funded through June 30, 2027.) This position is open rank with an anticipated slotting in the Education Specialist (14232) series up to Sr. Education Specialist (14235).

Unit: School Of Education MBU

Department: SOE Spec Ed and DP PPD

Department Summary: The Partnership for People with Disabilities at Virginia Commonwealth University celebrates over 40 years as Virginia's University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Research, Training and Dissemination ((Use the "Apply for this Job" box below).). Our mission is to partner with stakeholders in the intellectual and developmental disability community and faculty and staff throughout Virginia Commonwealth University to provide culturally competent and engaged research, education, direct services, and information sharing to ensure people with disabilities and their families can live, learn, work and play together as a part of their community.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Respond to the needs of school personnel in divisions/schools, providing professional learning and technical assistance in SOL-aligned rigorous curriculum and effective instructional strategies for students with disabilities in all content areas.

Use a variety of high-quality professional learning and technical assistance methods, including in-person or virtual small and large group workshops with follow-up support, systems change processes, consultations, communities of practice, book clubs, web resources, distance training methods (e.g., webinars), literature searches, library information, consultation, electronic mail, and video conferencing to build the capacity of all personnel working with students with disabilities.

Use a variety of high-quality professional learning and technical assistance methods that promote the Universal Design for Learning framework for an inclusive Tier 1 curriculum and respond to needs related to instructional delivery to assist students in gaining access to the general education curriculum (i.e., Standards of Learning).

Assist with acquiring and organizing resource materials about various instructional methodologies, program development, curriculum, and federal laws that govern services for students with disabilities for the T/TAC library and assistive and instructional technology lab.

Participate in professional learning to stay abreast of emerging and current instructional practices.

Promote and lead school divisions through a systems change process for developing and implementing evidence-based practices within inclusive environments (division/system-wide and/or school-wide).

Assist teams in identifying resources, creating procedures, and learning to provide inclusive Tier 1 curriculum and instruction.

Collaborate with the Virginia Department of Education, Statewide T/TACs, Partnership for People with…