Job summary

About the Position: The Professional Practice and Improvement Specialist (PPIS) works for the Chief of the Center for Instructional Leadership Development. The position is located in Sobe, Okinawa, Japan. This position is not covered by a bargaining unit. Federal employees in Sobe, Okinawa are currently entitled to receive a 0% Post Allowance (COLA) in addition to the base salary. Post allowance is subject to change frequently.

Major duties

Implement and sustain a collaborative coaching approach for district and school leaders to become more reflective practitioners and support their roles as instructional leaders. Provide opportunities to optimize curriculum, instruction, and assessment practices through professional networks. Promote standards-driven instruction, innovative practices and professional growth within professional learning communities. Conduct root cause analysis and identify discrepancies between goals and current status and develop solutions in order to stimulate achievement. Identify training and education gaps and provide guidance and direction for the development of intervention strategies and professional learning opportunities. Conduct program evaluations using formative and summative assessment tools to ensure quality and degree of implementation, inform continuous improvement efforts and analyze professional learning needs. Conduct face-to-face, blended, virtual professional development to build capacity of district staff, principals, and teacher leaders. Engage and support district and school leaders in collaborative learning communities to foster continuous learning, productive interaction, and support transfer of the learning to practice.

Qualification

Who May Apply: U.S. Citizens Current Competitive Service Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) Civilian Employee Current Excepted Service Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) Employee Current Excepted Service Department of Defense Employee Current Excepted Service Employee Current Permanent Department of Defense (DoD) Civilian Employee Non-Department of Defense (DoD) Transfer In order to qualify, you must meet the education AND experience requirements described below. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community; student; social). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience; if qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application. BASIC REQUIREMENTS: Minimum Education Requirement: A master's degree in the field of education is required. The course work must have been completed at or accepted by a regionally accredited U.S. college or university. AND General Experience Requirement (5 years): Relevant experience in teaching, educational research, development of curriculum and instructional materials, education assessment and evaluation, professional development, special education, educational administration, or comparable experience which clearly demonstrated success in applying the principles, methods, and techniques of education, and provided familiarity with current developments in teaching, learning, instructional leadership, and professional development. The general experience must have been gained while employed in a PK-12 setting or PK-12 administrative/headquarters office. AND Specialized Experience Requirements (2 years): Experience beyond the teaching level developing and designing professional learning (e.g. Instructional Specialist/Designer) for PK-12 district or school leaders/administrators; OR demonstrated leader/administrator experience supervising PK-12 educators in professional growth and administering and supporting PK-12 instructional programs. The specialized experience must have been gained in a PK-12 setting or PK-12 administrative/headquarters office. You will be evaluated on the basis of your level of competency in the following areas: Accountability Creativity and Innovation Education Consultation, Coaching and Collaboration Instructional Delivery and Learner Development Learning and Program Evaluation Oral Communication

Education

FOREIGN EDUCATION: Foreign Degrees and Course Work from Non-accredited Institutions: Credits or degrees earned from a foreign college or university must be evaluated prior to acceptance. Three evaluation procedures are acceptable: I. The work may be evaluated and interpreted by the International Education Research Foundation, Inc., Credential Evaluation Service, Post Office Box 3665, Culver City, CA 90231-3665 or www.ierf.org/ or 310-258-9451. 2. The foreign institution that awarded the degree is on a list endorsed by a regionally accredited university or on a list endorsed by a state department of education for the purpose of teacher certification in that state (this procedure will require an English translation of the transcript and a copy of the document awarding the degree, together with an authenticated list produced by an American university or a state department of education); AND 3. The work may be evaluated by the graduate division of a regionally accredited university and declared the equivalent of similar undergraduate or graduate work in a U.S. institution. Graduates of non-accredited institutions may have their undergraduate work validated by admittance to graduate school and completion of a minimum of 5 semester hours of credit in a regionally accredited graduate college.

Evaluations

Once the announcement has closed, a review of your application package (resume, supporting documents, and responses to the questionnaire) will be used to determine whether you meet the qualification requirements listed on this announcement. If you are minimally qualified, your resume and supporting documentation will be compared against your responses to the assessment questionnaire to determine your level of experience. If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and/or experience, you may lose consideration for this position. Please follow all instructions carefully when applying, errors or omissions may affect your eligibility. Basis for Rating: To compete with U.S. Citizens: Qualified candidates will be ranked based on their level of experience. Applicants with veterans' preference are listed ahead of applicants with no preference with the same ratings. Points will be added to an applicant's score if entitled to preference. Additional Information regarding overseas appointments: If an employee brings a child to an overseas location and that child is entitled to attend a DoD school on a space-required basis in accordance with DoDEA Regulation 1342.13, the DoDEA and the Military Department responsible for providing related services will ensure that the child, if eligible for special education, receives a free appropriate public education, including related services pursuant to DoDI 1342.12 and DoDM 1342.12. If an employee brings an infant or toddler (up to 3 years of age) to an overseas location, and that infant or toddler, but for the child's age, is entitled to attend the DoDEA on a space-required basis in accordance with DoDEA Regulation 1342.13, then the Military Department responsible for EIS will provide the infant or toddler with the required EIS in accordance with the eligibility criteria consistent with DoDI 1342.12 and DoDM 1342.12. If an employee brings a family member to an overseas location who requires medical or dental care, then the employee will be responsible for obtaining and paying for such care. Access for civilian employees and their families to military medical and dental treatment facilities is on a space-available and reimbursable basis only. Family member appointments will expire based on the sponsor's rotation date. Family member appointments may not exceed two months after an employee is no longer considered a family member within the local commuting area due to PCS or divorce of sponsor or, in the case of a child, the age of 23. Family members are defined according to the DODI 1400.25, Vol.1232 as: For a military member whose duty station is in a foreign area, the member's spouse or unmarried dependent child. For a civilian US employee as defined by section 2105 of Title 5, United States Code, the employee's spouse, domestic partner, or unmarried dependent child, or unmarried child of the employee's spouse or domestic partner. A family member must physically reside with his or her sponsor to receive family member preference.