Curriculum and Instruction Manager, College and Career Pathways

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is the fourth-largest school district in the United States, serving over 320,000 students in 600+ schools and employing nearly 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.

Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs at Chicago Public Schools (CPS) are part of the Department of Early College and Career Education (ECCE) within the Office of Career and College Success (OCCS). CTE programs for CPS high schools serve students across over 80 schools with the goal of enhancing student preparation for college and career success, as evidenced by increasing graduation rates, college enrollment rates, employment rates, and earning levels of CPS CTE students.

Job Summary:

The Curriculum and Instruction Manager of College and Career Pathways will lead all curriculum and instruction work within CTE and will collaborate with the CTE Director to create a district-wide strategy for ensuring that teachers, schools, and staff are supported with content and pedagogical needs. This position will lead a team of direct reporting professionals in overseeing CTE Pathways based on content endorsement area and will manage staff and activities to ensure the implementation of high-quality CTE programming to 15,000+ participating secondary students at CPS. The Curriculum and Instruction Manager will work in conjunction with CPS departments, networks, schools, and community partners to ensure successful implementation and outcomes for CTE students and programs. This position will ensure that all CTE activities are aligned with ISBE’s College and Career Pathway Endorsement, the Illinois PACe framework, and nationally recognized indicators of quality programming. This position reports to the CTE Director.

The Curriculum and Instruction Manager, College and Career Pathways will be held accountable for the following responsibilities:

• Ensure that all students participating in CTE programs have access to industry-aligned, high-quality CTE pathways that prepare them for career success
• Oversee the development and integration of curricula that incorporate college readiness standards, essential employability skills, content-specific competencies, authentic problem- and project-based learning, work-based learning, industry certification, and research-based best instructional practices.
• Align all available CTE pathways to the ISBE College and Career Pathway Endorsement, including all required student and district activities.
• Manage relevant contracts and vendor relationships for CTE curriculum and other service providers
• Create a professional development strategy for CTE teachers to ensure all students are supported
• Collaborate with the Education for Employment (EFE) Manager to plan and execute a robust teacher recruitment strategy to attract high-quality teachers for all open teaching positions.
• Develop a centralized strategy to ensure that all CTE Programs align with industry needs and best practices.
• Oversee all activities relating to Industry Advisory Councils, including ensuring standardization across councils, alignment with state and federal requirements, and that each College and Career Pathway Lead conducts at least 4 meetings per year
• Collaborate with industry and postsecondary partners to ensure pathway outcomes prepare students for careers within their chosen industry
• Develop and implement a strategic vision to evaluate CTE programs for quality and address gaps
• In collaboration with CTE Leadership, design and implement a program evaluation tool to measure program success and drive program/student improvement.
• Manage the professional development (PD) strategy for teachers around best practices, instructional strategies, technical and employability skills, and other relevant topics that address gaps
• Co-create strategies with leadership to increase CTE program quality that aligns with the state and national frameworks.
• Regularly analyze data to inform strategic, instructional, and curricular decision-making and planning.
• Lead, professionally develop, and evaluate the performance of direct reports, providing coaching, feedback, and support in meeting individual and team goals
• Other duties and workstreams as assigned

In order to be successful and achieve the above responsibilities, the Curriculum and Instruction Manager, College and Career Pathways must possess the following qualifications:

Education Required:

• Bachelor's degree in education, social sciences, business, public policy, or related field from an accredited college or university is required
• Valid Professional Educator License (PEL) or other CTE licensure issued by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) with appropriate content and/or grade-level endorsement(s) is preferred
• Master’s degree, strongly preferred

Experience Required:

• Minimum of five (5) years of professional experience either as a classroom teacher, or in a related, industry-specific role responsible for leading quality educational programs within one or more College & Career/CTE content areas.
• Minimum of two (2) years of direct supervisor/manager experience leading a team of direct reports
• Experience working with adult learners, including developing and facilitating professional learning opportunities to meet the needs of participants
• Experience facilitating or leading curriculum planning, design, and/or development
• Experience in Career and Technical Education (CTE), whether in a classroom teaching capacity and/or leading the administration of CTE programs in an urban or periurban environment is preferred.
• Experience in a large organization, managing complex projects requiring significant cross-functional collaboration is preferred.

Other requirements:

• Knowledge of CTE, including employment trends and/or educational best practices preferred

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Strong research skills in conjunction with the ability to review and develop curriculum materials.
• Strong presentation skills, including the ability to present instructional pedagogy for team development.
• Practical understanding of urban high schools and the urban district setting for school improvement.
• Effective strategic planning capabilities, including the ability to establish long-term vision and goals, and align/manage activities toward goal fulfillment
• Strong leadership and team building skills, e.g. ability to develop high-performing teams united around a clear vision for serving schools and achieving student success
• Ability and willingness to learn and adapt in the midst of new and shifting priorities with a ‘can-do,’ solutions-oriented approach to problem-solving.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Strong organizational, time, and project management skills, including the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously and collaborate with various stakeholders to complete time-sensitive projects while maintaining high levels of attention to detail and meeting expectations.
• Ability to define problems, analyze data, and outline valid conclusions and action steps
• Ability to build trusting relationships with multiple constituencies, including internal and external partners in business, postsecondary, and government, and to function effectively at the school, central office or network level
• Skilled in the use of technology, computers, and various software/systems

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.