Blended Intervention Specialist Structured Literacy & Written Expression (Virtual)

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS: Please note candidates who do not follow these steps will not be considered for the position. In addition to your resume, please send a 5-minute video answering the following questions in an easy-to-open format to [email protected] along with your resume. • Describe your experience with virtual learning and share specific strategies and tools you use to make it engaging and enjoyable for students, especially those with learning and behavioral differences. • How would you handle a situation (or repeated situations) where a student refuses to complete an assigned task and instead displays disruptive behavior, such as throwing objects or talking out of turn? Please provide a detailed response based on your experience including how you determine when parent involvement is appropriate. • If a student shows no growth or regression on progress monitoring or benchmark assessments, what steps would you take to use the data effectively to inform and adjust your instructional approach? • When given a directive that you find unclear, what steps do you take to seek clarification and ensure you understand the expectations fully? Can you provide an example from your experience? • When you think about the professional development portion of the role (Wilson® and Writing Our World™/The Writing Revolution®, what excites you about these curricula? How do you see them elevating the teaching skills you already have? Once your video has been reviewed, Grace will send you an email letting you know whether or not you are advancing to the next round. About Redwood: Redwood exists so that all students with literacy struggles can access their dreams. By cultivating hope and restoring confidence, we help students dramatically improve their literacy skills regardless of socio-economic background or learning differences. Redwood Literacy offers a variety of programming, including after-school programs, day-school programs, summer school programs, and nonprofit initiatives that support public schools in using the Wilson Reading System®, Spell-Links™, Writing Our World®, Chris Woodin, and dyslexia best practices. As long as educators believe evidence-based literacy intervention is only possible through 1:1 settings, it will never be accessible to everybody who needs access because insufficient resources support that model. At Redwood, we’re committed to showing that small group intervention is better for students, both in their view of themselves as learners and in their measurable academic growth. By joining our team, you can help us set out to prove that not only can every child learn to read, but every child should have access to literacy intervention no matter their age, geographic location, or socioeconomic status. Redwood is looking for a credentialed special education teacher excited about working virtually with small groups of students with learning differences and growing professionally. This educator must be flexible, innovative, knowledgeable, optimistic, and ready to learn new curricula (Wilson® & Writing Our World®). Please see below for a more detailed breakdown of the role. Role & Responsibilities • Start Date: Flexible • End Date: This is an “At Will” contract, meaning there is no specified end date. More details below. • Location: Virtual via Pearl • Redwood Student Intervention Services: • Rolling Admissions run on a Year Round Calendar (attached below) • Observance of a two-week Winter Holiday (unpaid) • Observance of Federal Holidays (paid make-up days required) • Intervention Sessions take place Monday-Friday • Opportunities to learn more about Redwood and collaborate with other instructors will be offered quarterly and led by the Redwood Director Team. Details will be communicated via the weekly bulletin. Additional individualized opportunities will be available to you as approved by the Director Team. • During weeks with Monday federal holidays, contractors will host make-up sessions on the Friday of that week at the regularly scheduled time of their Monday/Wednesday sessions. Student Caseload: • Teach between 2-8 groups of students a week for 30-75 mins per session: • Either small groups (up to 5 students) or 1:1s (on a case-by-case basis). • Sessions primarily take place during school hours (8:00 AM - 3:00 PM), with afternoon/evening sessions available if additional hours are desired • Caseloads range from 1 student to a maximum of 40 students. • New Hires Only: Upon signing the service agreement, all contractors will progress through the onboarding process for anywhere from 3-6 weeks. • These weeks are unpaid as Redwood covers the entire cost of your training (Phase 1) and your content area-specific certification process (Phase 2). See more information below about what is included in Phase 1 and Phase 2. • You will begin invoicing once you begin teaching your first Redwood student. • Once the onboarding process is complete, Redwood will build your student caseload pending current enrollment. Redwood will work with you to reach your desired caseload. Timing will depend on your availability (the more availability you have, the easier it’ll be to match you with students) and client demand. • All Instructors: There is no guarantee of how many students you’ll be matched with on a certain timeline. Instead, we ask that you vocalize your desired caseload and timeline, and we’ll work together to reach it. Responsibilities: • Provide top-tier, individualized intervention services to each student on your caseload. • Write and track IEP goals specific to each student’s learning needs and aligned to the requirements laid out by the school district and the district case manager team. • Systems for tracking dates, writing goals, etc. are provided by Redwood to ensure Intervention Specialists are set up for success. • IEPs are subject to review by Redwood's Director Team and will held to a high standard of excellence. • Complete all onboarding items listed in the Onboarding Slide Deck and your content-specific Training Track (new hires only, or current instructors if beginning a new content-specific training track). • Record necessary progress monitoring data for students after each session and track student attendance and participation. • Read, internalize, and respond to weekly team communication within 24 hours Monday-Friday. • Complete all action items regarding preparing, writing, and sending monthly email updates. • Commit to constantly striving to be a better educator and reading interventionist through personal practice and professional development. Phase 1 & Phase 2 For all instructors beginning at Redwood, you will be working through two phases to become an expert in the field of dyslexia, dysgraphia, or dyscalculia. Phase 1: Onboarding & Training • Directed by Redwood • Duration: 3-6 weeks • Tasks include internalizing the Onboarding Slide Deck, Training Track, and HR & Payroll action items in your “Welcome to Redwood” email. • Begins immediately upon hire. • You will be compensated as soon as you begin student-facing teaching hours. • Additional details are laid out via your individualized Training Track provided by Redwood. Once you have completed Phase 1, you will be eligible to receive students on your caseload. After providing intervention services for approximately 3-6 months, candidates will be considered for Phase 2, which includes a Certification Track for Wilson® and The Writing Revolution®/Writing Our World™. Acceptance into Phase 2 is contingent upon both Redwood and the third-party provider’s agreement on the contractor’s readiness. Redwood covers the entire cost of your Certification Process as long as you remain an active instructor at Redwood. Phase 2: Certification Process • Directed by a third party: Wilson Language Training® & The Writing Revolution® • Internal training: Redwood Literacy’s Writing Our World™ curriculum • 6 -18 months (pending the instructor) • Most often, it begins after working with students at Redwood for 3-6 months. • You will not be compensated for the practicum, lesson planning, or observation hours these certifications include. However, • The process is laid out and guided by the third-party provider. Not all instructors will automatically qualify for the certification process. Candidates can display their readiness to enter Phase 2 by meeting and exceeding expectations for this role as outlined in the contract and the Training Track. The instructor must be accepted and invited into the certification process by the third-party provider. If you have any questions about the difference between paid and unpaid opportunities, please ask us. We want you to go into this position with a clear understanding of your compensation breakdown to eliminate miscommunication or unmet expectations down the road. Outline of Phase 2: Certification Tracks • : A multi-sensory, structured literacy, intensive intervention program that covers decoding, encoding, fluency, and comprehension in each lesson. Wilson Reading System© is recommended for individuals with word-level deficits who are not making sufficient progress through their current intervention and/or require explicit multisensory language instruction due to a language-based learning difference, such as dyslexia. Each Wilson© lesson includes integrated and systematic instruction of phonology, orthography, and morphology. • Redwood’s Writing Our World™ course (based on the work of the Knowledge Gap and The Writing Revolution®) focuses on improving reading comprehension and written expression in students by building background knowledge, increasing vocabulary & morphology acquisition, and establishing a deep understanding of language syntax while learning written expression skills and embedding them into core informational content pieces, practicing comprehension strategies and learning vocabulary words along the way. • Redwood Literacy uses evidence-based practice, including the use of Assistive Technology (AT) tools to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of students with language-based learning disabilities. Students with learning disabilities who use AT transition more successfully to high school, show improved quality of work, increased access to grade-level content, gain positive perceptions of themselves as learners, and experience positive post-school outcomes. Compensation Breakdown • Hourly Rate (student-facing teaching hours): • Certified Special Education Teacher*: $60/hour, $65 after content certification • Certified Special Education Teacher* + content certification: $65/hour • *Credentials on resume must reflect this certification • This hourly rate includes all prep & implementation of teaching lessons to students. • In addition to your student-facing teaching hours, you will receive a monthly admin stipend per student: • Contractors are paid $30 per student on your caseload per month (for whom Redwood is NOT actively servicing legal IEP minutes). • Contractors are paid $50 per student on your caseload per month (for whom Redwood IS actively servicing legal IEP minutes). • This admin rate includes administering benchmark assessments, progress monitoring data collection, monthly email updates, parent communication emails including JoyMongers (positive student emails), keeping you in the loops, and general academic instructional questions. The exact number of admin hours you work each month will fluctuate slightly, depending on what is needed that month. The admin rate is a flat rate per student on your caseload. Additional Stipends: • Quarterly Redwood Team Meetings & Collaboration Workshops • Opportunities to read books, watch webinars, etc. • You may be invited to work on special projects that would include additional compensation per project. Substitutes: • If you cannot attend one of your scheduled sessions and need to request a substitute, you will not be compensated for that session. Instead, your substitute will receive the allocated payment for covering your session. • The onboarding slide deck (shared upon signed service agreement) includes more details regarding how to request a substitute. Skills & Certifications • Required: Certified Special Education Teacher (Learning Behavior Specialist Level 1 credential in the state of Illinois OR equivalent in another state) • Out-of-state Special Education Certified teachers must apply for the Learning Behavior Specialist (LBS1) credential and pay the associated fees if hired using the system outlined on ISBE's website. • Required: Experience teaching structured literacy programs such as Orton Gillingham, Wilson®, etc. • Passionate about deepening pedagogical knowledge and best practice skills in specific content areas. • Enjoys students and seeks to see them grow in their academics and understanding of self. • Robust understanding of Gmail, Google Drive, Google Documents, Google Sheets, Google Meets, and Zoom for admin tasks. • Knowledge and/or experience using the Acadience assessment toolkit for progress monitoring and benchmark measurements. • Behavior management skills. • Deep understanding of and alignment with the mission of Redwood Literacy. Job Type: Contract Pay: $60.00 - $65.00 per hour Expected hours: 10 – 20 per week Benefits: • Flexible schedule Physical Setting: • Online school Schedule: • 8 hour shift • Evenings as needed • Monday to Friday Work Location: Remote Apply To This Job Check More Online Tutoring Jobs Apply tot his job Apply To this Job