Position: Instructional Specialist - Pupil Personnel Services

Position Summary:

Under the direction of the supervision of the Instructional Supervisor – Pupil Personnel Services, the Instructional Specialist is responsible for acting as a change agent toward ensuring equity and access for all students by assisting in removing barriers to student achievement and assisting in planning, developing and monitoring the implementation of the pupil personnel services program. The incumbent’s primary focus is to assist the Instructional Supervisor – Pupil Personnel Services in developing an aligned pupil personnel support program, provide technical assistance to pupil personnel workers and all stakeholders. They must also assist in providing professional development, observe, and evaluate pupil personnel staff. 

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Assists the Instructional Supervisor in establishing and providing systemic oversight of the comprehensive data-driven pupil personnel service program aligned with the mission and vision of our school district;
• Collects, analyzes and uses data to identify trends and systemic gaps;
• Conducts site visits to schools as a coach to pupil personnel workers’;
• Provides formal and informal pupil personnel staff observations with meaningful feedback to pupil personnel worker staff;
• Engages in collaborative planning with other disciplines, serving as a representative for the department;
• Assesses in-service needs and provides leadership in development and assists with the implementation of on-going staff development;
• Serves as a liaison between the Office of Pupil Personnel Services and all stakeholders (internal and external) when requested by Instructional Supervisor;
• Assists with community outreach and public relation strategies;
• Interprets process and use of SIT, SST, and IEP teams and is able to assist in professional development and implementation;
• Assists the Instructional Supervisor and others in developing presentations, handbooks, and other guiding documents utilizing print and electronic technology;
• Assists with recruitment and interviewing applicants for pupil personnel vacancies;
• Assists with school assignments of pupil personnel workers;
• Assists in training/implementation of the Pupil Personnel Worker Evaluation tool; and
• Provides leadership to ensure district-wide compliance with MSDE requirements for attendance and discipline compliance.

Systemic needs:

• Engages in collaborative planning with other central office disciplines serving as a representative for the department on systemic initiatives at the central office level;
• Assists with community outreach and public relation strategies;
• Assists with providing data and other requested reports to the Department of Student Services and other central office departments/committees; and
• Assists in the implementation of the system initiative which ensures that any group of students are not disproportionately removed for discipline reasons.

Accountability:

• Maintains an accurate and confidential record-keeping system of all Pupil Personnel documents, reports, observations, and evaluations;
• Provides accurate advisement utilizing system policies and procedures, local, state, and federal laws; and
• Collects and submits district-wide monthly data in a timely fashion in accordance with systemic and departmental goals (Pupil Personnel Worker submitted reports, calendars, observations, etc.).

Qualifications:

• Demonstrate knowledge of national, state, and local laws;
• Demonstrate leadership and expertise in the range of issues, programs, professional association, and resources relevant to pupil personnel services;
• Excellent oral and written communication skills with the ability to speak effectively to staff, parents, administrators, central office staff and other stakeholders;
• Excellent human relations skills with the ability to establish good relationships with staff, principals, administrators, school and central office staff, parents, and community stakeholders:
• Effective interpersonal, problem solving and mediation skills; and
• Ability to use technology to retrieve, disaggregate, interpret, and report data to include Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Google documents, SchoolMax, and other system platforms.

Education and/or Experience Requirements:

Master’s degree from an accredited college or university and five (5) years as a pupil personnel worker.

Certification:

Holds or is eligible for certification/licensure appropriate to area of assignment issued by the Maryland State Department of Education; Pupil Personnel Certification.

Supervisory Responsibilities:

Conduct mid-year and annual reviews.

Physical Demands:

The physical demands are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to stand, talk, hear, walk, sit, and use fingers, tools or controls. The employee is occasionally required to reach with hands and arms and stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision such as to read handwritten or typed material, the ability to adjust focus, and depth perception. While performing the duties of this job, the employee may occasionally push or lift up to 25 lbs.

Working Environment:

The work environment characteristics are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of the job.

Additional Information:

None.