1811 Special Education Improvement Consultant

POSITION IDENTIFICATION

TITLE Special Education Improvement Consultant

CLASSIFICATION NUMBER 1811

GRADE 45

CLASSIFICATION Exempt

IMMEDIATE SUPERVISOR Director, Agency for Teaching, Leading and Learning

GENERAL FUNCTION

The primary duty of the Special Education Improvement Consultant is to facilitate school improvement resulting in increased academic achievement for students with disabilities in identified districts or schools based on data from the annual Special Education District/School Profile and other data sources.  The Special Education Improvement Consultant assists schools and/or districts in analyzing their student achievement and performance data to determine root causes for areas of concern, facilitating the development or review/revision of a school improvement plan, and identifying appropriate resources for implementing the school improvement plan.  

MINIMUM ACCEPTABLE QUALIFICATIONS

Education: A Master’s degree in Education is required.  A Master’s degree in Special Education is preferred.

Experience: Five years successful special education experience in public education is required.  Knowledge of current effective teaching, effective schools, and successful school reform research, particularly as it relates to students with disabilities, is required.  Knowledge of and experience in special education processes, laws, and regulations is required.  Knowledge of the Missouri School Improvement Program (MSIP), Missouri state assessments, and special education legislation is preferred.

Skills:    Strong verbal and written communication skills, excellent interpersonal skills, and organizational skills, particularly in planning, are required.  Computer literacy is required.  Knowledge and skills in secondary education, elementary education, and/or P-12 education is required.  The ability to establish rapport and effective working relationships with department staff, local school district personnel, and Regional Professional Development Center staff is required. The ability to develop knowledge of, respect for, and skills to engage with those of other cultures or backgrounds is required.

Other: The nature of the position frequently requires attendance at evening and/or weekend activities, including national, state, and local conferences and meetings.  Travel is necessary.  This position transports a laptop, a projector, and quantities of informational brochures unassisted to professional development sessions located both on- and off-campus.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Supports the needs of schools and school districts in the region, particularly for identified priority schools as defined by DESE, schools with priority needs as based on the Division of Special Education (DSE) identification and/or identification through regional collaborative data review by working collaboratively with the Agency for Teaching, Leading and Learning team, providing consultative and technical assistance, and facilitating school improvement processes.   

2. Provides service and support to schools identified as having priority needs by providing service to unaccredited and provisionally accredited districts and to DESE designated Priority Schools, and teaming with others in analyzing disaggregated Special Education student performance data.

3. Helps to improve student performance by teaming with Agency for Teaching, Leading and Learning staff on initiatives to support districts in planning and sustaining professional development.

4. Contributes to the improvement of performance of students with disabilities by serving as a resource to support the development and implementation of data-based District/School Comprehensive School Improvement Plans (CSIP) and/or Building Improvement Plans (BIP), including professional development plans, and helping districts/buildings identify both academic and financial resources to implement improvement plans.

5. Serves as a resource by providing and/or facilitating technical assistance to schools as a result of corrective actions required from the Division of Special Education monitoring report and referring districts to the Compliance Section in DSE for assistance with compliance requirements.

6. Develops content for technical assistance documents and/or WEB documents.

7. Assists districts and/or schools in achieving Special Education performance goals by delivering professional development when deemed most appropriate.

8. Shares expertise by collaborating with colleges and universities in the region regarding embedding DSE-developed modules in the content of undergraduate and graduate courses which prepare teachers and administrators for working with students with disabilities.

9. Assures communication and documentation of work performed by providing a monthly log, quarterly school case files, and appropriate data to DESE.

10. Advises the Director, Agency for Teaching, Leading and Learning and other senior administrators on the status of ongoing programs and projects by preparing and presenting reports to the Director and a variety of advisory groups.

11. Contributes to a work environment that encourages knowledge of, respect for, and development of skills to engage with those of other cultures or backgrounds.

12. Remains competent and current through self-directed professional reading, developing professional contacts with colleagues, attending professional development courses, and attending training and/or courses required by the Director, Agency for Teaching, Leading and Learning.

13. Contributes to the success of the Agency for Teaching, Leading and Learning by performing all other duties as assigned.

SUPERVISION

The Special Education Improvement Consultant is supervised by the Director, Agency for Teaching, Leading and Learning and generally exercises no supervision of others.

OFFICE OF HUMAN RESOURCES
REVISED JULY 2019

JOB FAMILY 4

Factor 1: Professional Knowledge, Skill, and Technical Mastery

Level 5.0 - 3300 Points: Knowledge of the principles and methods of an administrative, managerial, or professional field such as accounting or auditing, financial management, information technology, business administration, human resources, engineering, law, social sciences, communications, education, or medicine. Knowledge permits employee to supervise projects and/or departments using standard methods to improve administrative and/or line operations. Knowledge also permits employee to plan steps and carry out multi-phase projects requiring problem definition and modified techniques, to coordinate work with others, and to modify methods and procedures to solve a wide variety of problems. Knowledge at this level requires a Bachelor's or Master's degree with substantial related work experience, including up to two years of administrative or supervisory experience. Alternatively, this level may require a professional or clinical degree beyond the Bachelor's degree with moderate related work experience; knowledge requirements include significant levels of related work experience.

Factor 2: Supervisory Responsibility

Level 1.0 - 50 Points: Typically, little, if any, supervision of others is required. The job may require irregular but occasional responsibility to direct the work of student workers and/or temporary or part-time workers. The nature of supervision is largely confined to assigning tasks to others and does not include a full range of supervisory responsibilities. The amount of time spent on directing the work of others is normally a small portion of total work time.

Factor 3: Interactions with Others

Level 4.0 - 500 Points: Interactions with others are somewhat unstructured. The purpose may be to influence or motivate others, to obtain information, or to control situations and resolve problems. Interactions may be with individuals or groups of co-workers, students, or the general public, may be moderately unstructured, and may involve persons who hold differing goals and objectives. Individuals at this level often act as a liaison between groups with a focus on solving particular unstructured problems. Interactions at this level require considerable interpersonal skill and the ability to resolve conflict.

Factor 4: Job Controls and Guidelines

Level 3.0 - 500 Points: The employee operates under general supervision expressed in terms of program goals and objectives, priorities, and deadlines. Administrative supervision is given through statements of overall program or project objectives and available resources. Administrative guidelines are relatively comprehensive and the employee need only to fill in gaps in interpretation and adapt established methods to perform recurring activities. In unforeseen situations, the employee must interpret inadequate or incomplete guidelines, develop plans, and initiate new methods to complete assignments based on those interpretations. Assignments are normally related in function, but the work requires many different processes and methods applied to an established administrative or professional field. Problems are typically the result of unusual circumstances, variations in approach, or incomplete or conflicting data. The employee must interpret and refine methods to complete assignments. Characteristic jobs at this level may involve directing single-purpose programs or performing complex, but precedented, technical or professional work.

Factor 5: Managerial Responsibility

Level 3.0 - 850 Points: Work involves providing significant support services to others both within and outside of the department that substantially influences decision-making processes. Work activities are complex and others rely on the accuracy and reliability of the information, analysis, or advice to make decisions. Work activities have a direct, but shared, impact on further processes or services, affect the overall efficiency and image of the department, and may have material impact on costs or service quality within the cost center. Incumbents may be responsible for identifying areas of need and for developing proposals that request funding to fulfill those needs.