Chief Academic Officer - 1.0 FTE - Chief Academic Office

Posting Timeline

PPS strongly encourages and recommends everyone who is able, to be vaccinated and remain current on the COVID-19 vaccine.

This job is open until filled. Applications will be reviewed as received. Portland Public Schools reserves the right to make a hiring decision at any point during the posting period.

Position Details

The Opportunity
Portland Public Schools (PPS) is actively seeking candidates to complete the talented leadership team of our organization. If you have the leadership capacity and proven experience of successfully working in an urban environment, then this is the place for you! We are looking for a dynamic candidate with a demonstrated record of improving student performance and eliminating achievement disparities to fill our Chief Academic Officer vacancy. As the Chief Academic Officer, you will offer leadership towards implementing and maintaining a focus on high-quality professional learning and development opportunities for educators and administrators.

• Provide key leadership in the implementation of the District's multi-year strategic plan Forward Together.
• Articulate and enact the ISC vision and theory of action for the building of instructional capacity in Portland Public Schools; maintain an aligned and coherent focus on the instructional core; build coherence of high-quality educational programming across all district PK-12 schools.
• Oversee, manage and support a high-performing, data-driven, equity-focused, student-centered academic leadership team that sees it as their mission to serve and support our schools; uphold tenets of scholarship, leadership and advocacy.
• Ensure that all educators provide rigorous, authentic, and personalized experiences for all students, particularly our historically underserved populations.
• Provide logical and consistent professional learning opportunities to ensure that initiatives for school leaders and school teams are coordinated and integrate both academic content and instructional strategies (e.g. Universal Design for Learning, culturally and linguistically relevant pedagogy).
• Drive performance management and provide leadership in distributing resources to differentiate support to schools and to accelerate the performance of schools.
• Monitor the progress of school performance, student achievement objectives and academic excellence indicators to assure alignment of improvement strategies; direct implementation of revised or new strategies and Common Core State Standards as required.
• Oversee an ambitious bond-funded curriculum adoption process and ensure high-quality instructional materials are accessible to every student across all content areas.
• Provide direction in and maintain current knowledge of educational reform and instructional best practices in all aspects of PK-12 urban education.
• Plan, design, implement, evaluate and coordinate delivery of services, determine and implement appropriate changes and improvements to ensure effective, cost-efficient programs.
• Initiate development of new programs, self-supporting services and strategies for streamlining services.
• Research and analyze administrative, fiscal and operational problems; review findings and implement solutions.
• Monitor the coordination of all district professional development efforts and the implementation of new and existing educational programs using Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) as a vehicle to provide staff support.
• Provide an organized, consistent, useful body of research information for school professionals to use to improve instructional practices and achieve the district's goals of excellence and equity.
• Develop and institutionalize a two-way feedback loop from school sites to the Division of Curriculum & Instruction.
• Serve as the District's designated liaison to the Board of Education's on all matters related to teaching and learning; provide visible leadership and be the main point of contact for all academically related inquiries in governmental, legislative, business and community-based affairs.
• Represent the District's academic agenda and instructional reform efforts to both internal and external audiences.

• Proven ability to develop and deliver programming that drives improved academic performance for all student populations; knows effective practice for differentiating instruction.
• Deep understanding of curricular framework, pedagogy, and quality classroom materials; experience developing and implementing curriculum for a wide variety of grade levels and subjects.
• Strong knowledge of high-quality instructional practices and the ability to lead others to implement these practices consistently across classrooms and school sites.
• Demonstrate excellent execution and project management skills, including attention to detail, organizational skills, ability to balance the big picture with detailed steps to reach the end goal, and ability to balance multiple projects under tight deadlines.
• A proven record of effectively planning, organizing and using resources and systems to provide high-quality professional learning and leadership development.
• Demonstrated results in improving organizational capacity and the knowledge base and performance of professional leaders and the academic performance of students and closing the achievement gap is required.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to convey complex information to a variety of audiences (e.g. large groups, staff meetings, executive briefings, public board meetings, memos).
• A strong analytic, performance management, accountability, and systems-thinking orientation necessary to inform strategy development and execution.
• Knowledge and/or background of academic programs including: Talented and Gifted (TAG), International Baccalaureate (IB), Advanced Placement (AP), bilingual ed/ ESL, inclusive practices, Career & Technical Education (CTE), Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID), early ed, and Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA).

• A State of Oregon issued Administrative License is required by the first day of employment.
• A minimum of ten (10) years as a school system leader, at the senior district-level and/or school level.

• Knowledge of Portland Public Schools and/or understanding of urban education and instructional reform. demonstrated ability as an expert instructional leader.
• Experience working in a richly diverse school community and environment.
• Bilingual or multilingual skills are highly desirable.
• Evidence of effectively integrating technology to support teaching and learning; the importance and role of arts education and a college and career growing culture; and how to champion strategies to resolve issues of access and equity.