Training Specialist, Teacher Residency Program

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is a district on the rise, serving over 325,000 students in 500+ schools and employing over 45,000 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. Aligned with our transformed philosophy, we are steadfastly focused on ensuring that the District provides resources equitably to support every student, every school, and every community. Six core values guide the work we do every day for our students – student-centered, whole child, equity, academic excellence, community partnership, and continuous learning. Each role in the district supports our vision that every student deserves a rigorous, joyful, and equitable learning experience.

The CPS Teacher Residency Program is an accelerated two-year program, in partnership with multiple universities that train new teachers in high needs content areas while allowing them to work toward a Bachelors or Masters degree. With partners across the city, the CPS Talent Office has launched Teach Chicago 2025, an initiative that includes Teacher Residency Programs as a key lever to support schools in the district to accomplish the following goals:

• Expand new teacher pipelines into CPS classrooms 

• Improve Day One Readiness of new teachers 

• Ensure equity in students’ access to high-quality teachers

• Support teacher recognition, leadership and retention 

• Build diversity now for long-term change 

Job Summary:

Reporting to the Training Manager, the Training Specialist supports the Teacher Residency Program in creating and delivering robust professional development and learning experiences that help to develop knowledge and theory in educational equity and best practices in the field and standards of professionalism for pre-service teachers. This is a full-time, exempt position that will be paid for time worked on a salary basis.

The Training Specialist will be held accountable for the following responsibilities:

• Curate and coordinate existing professional development content in partnership with subject matter experts internally and externally, as well as facilitating quarterly resident checkpoints
• Support Residents facing programmatic challenges by meeting 1:1 and developing and implementing support and improvement plans
• Partner with training sites to ensure positive and supportive learning experiences for Resident Teachers, including visiting schools to resolve on-site problems or concerns
• Contribute to the design of a professional development scope and sequence for pre-service teachers and paraprofessionals
• Provide support to the Training Manager throughout the training site selection process, including conducting interviews with prospective Mentor teachers
• Build strong relationships with residency candidates, training sites, university partners, internal CPS departments as well as other professional learning organizations
• Deploy a wide variety of training methods to support diverse learning and processing styles
• Other duties as assigned
   

In order to be successful and achieve the above responsibilities, the Training Specialist must possess the following qualifications: 

Education Required: 

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university

• Minimum of three (3) years relevant work experience, including experience as a classroom teacher

Other Requirements:

• Must be able to travel to various locations around the city and work flexible hours, including evening hours and occasional weekends

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Substantial experience in urban education environments with a proven track record of student achievement

• Experience designing and/or leading professional development for teachers

• Experience coaching, observing and/or providing formal feedback to teachers, including peers

• Strong service and support orientation towards schools and school communities

• Excellent communication and presentation skills

• Strong interpersonal skills with a positive demeanor, growth mindset and collaborative orientation

• Excellent coordination and time management skills

• Demonstrated success working in a fast-paced, rapidly changing environment 

• Ability to transform educational research into deliverable content and support and practice tools 

• A high degree of cultural competence and experience in cross-cultural communication 

• Proficiency with Microsoft Office/Google Suite, specifically Excel/Sheets, PowerPoint, Word/Docs.

Benefits:

Health & Wellness: Your Care, Your Choice

CPS is committed to providing comprehensive health coverage to our employees and their eligible dependents. You'll have access to a variety of choices to best fit your needs:

Medical Plan Options

Pharmacy

Dental

Vision

Behavioral Health & EAP

Employee Wellness Program

Financial Security: Planning for Today and Tomorrow

We understand the importance of financial stability, which is why CPS offers strong retirement and savings options:

Basic Life Insurance

Life and Disability Insurance

Pension Plans

Supplemental Retirement Plans (403(b) and 457(b))

Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs)

Spot Pet Insurance

Work-Life Balance: Supporting Your Personal and Professional Life

CPS values the well-being of its employees and offers competitive paid time off policies:

Paid Leave

Sick Leave

Vacation Days

Parental Leaves

Short-Term Disability

Religious Holidays

Leaves

Reference the Chicago Public Schools: A Comprehensive Benefits Overview or the benefits handbook for comprehensive details.

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.