Director of Program Impact & Continuous Improvement, CSS Community Schools Strategy
: Job Details :

About CSSCenter for Supportive Schools (CSS) is an anti-racist, fast-paced, collegial, and team-orientedorganization wholly committed to helping schools become places where students want to be. Our workdirectly addresses student disengagement, a root cause of diminished academic performance, studentsdropping out of school, and other high-risk student behaviors. We partner with schools in three areas:developing all students into leaders; empowering teachers to collaborate with each other and withstudents; and engaging entire school communities to improve how learning happens.CSS is driven by the vision that one day, all students will thrive in schools that graduate them preparedfor the rigors of college and lives filled with meaningful work, active citizenship, and personalfulfillment.We are committed to antiracism. Our vision for students will not be realized absent the dismantling ofsystemic racism that permeates schools and society. Schools are not safe, supportive, engaging, andinspiring unless they address all areas of marginalization and eradicate all the many interconnectedforms of oppression. CSS's focus on antiracism results from the outsized role that racism has played inshaping the United States and its institutions, from the fact that racism intersects with all other forms ofoppression and given that which we learn and develop-tools, frameworks, resources-in dismantlingracism can be leveraged to abolish all other forms of oppression.Founded in 1979, we are a national organization currently impacting 65,000 students annually andcommitted to supporting every K-12 school in the country. Most of our partners are economicallydisadvantaged communities where the consequences of student disengagement can be mostdevastating.For more information, please visit www.supportiveschools.org. For more information about CSS's commitment to antiracism, please visit www.supportiveschools.org/antiracism-resources.About Community SchoolsCommunity Schools offer a holistic approach toward improving academic performance driven bystrong, collaborative partnerships among principals, parents, teachers, and many other organizations. InCommunity Schools, parents are active partners in their children's education. Each student isconnected to a mentor, club, academic services and/or social services. The school climate is joyful andpositive. Extended school days or weekend classes are commonplace. An integral part of this approachis the blending of school- and community-based services into the school day, including health, mentalhealth, counseling, and academic enrichment.Community Schools across New York City and Jersey City are instrumental in helping schools catchup or leap ahead, and in putting all of our students on the path to four-year colleges and long-termcareers. Our delivery of the Community Schools strategy enables CSS to help students achieve successthrough:•Meaningful family involvement in decision making around student needs•Meaningful interactions with community-based services and programs•Maximization of academic programming, college and career preparation, and extended weekendand afterschool programming•Robust data monitoring and attendance taking practicesThe RoleThe full-time Director of Program Impact & Continuous Improvement, Community Schools Strategy,will lead the data and impact evaluation strategy for community schools in partnership with theExecutive Director, Community Schools Strategy. This role provides support, execution, andleadership for the evaluation and understanding of, as well as supporting the continued development ofCSS's community school strategy. Working closely with the Executive Director of Community SchoolStrategy, this role will provide support with data and project management, while enhancing theevaluation process of the community school programs at across our community school sites. This rolewill actively assess the impact of CSS's community school strategy. This involves documenting bestpractices, assisting senior leadership in strategy development, offering technical support to CSDs,facilitating internal professional development initiatives, and developing tools and resources toevaluate and communicate our impact within schools and ensuring fidelity. Additionally, the leader inthis role will offer expertise and partnership across functions within the organization, aligned withstrategic priorities of the community schools portfolio.In partnership with the Executive Director, Community Schools Strategy, the Director of ProgramImpact & Continuous Improvement, Community Schools Strategy will lead the analysis of programimpact across community schools and steward the scaling of best practices to drive continuousimprovement efforts not only within our schools and but also within the community school team'sinternal systems.Key Job ResponsibilitiesThis person will engage in the following activities:•Evaluate the practices in place to enhance student progress within the CSS community schoolnetwork, providing support where needed.•Coordinate and identify partnerships that will provide long-term support for sustainable communityschools programming in New York City.•Assist the Executive Director of Community School Strategy with organizing logistics for planningspecial events, site visits and onboarding prospective partnerships.•Coordinate regular visits to various schools, document best practices, and support with the successof key initiatives like Student Success Team meetings, Community School Team meetings, familynight events, parent-teacher conferences, Parent-Teacher Association meetings, Community SchoolForums, grade team meetings, Community School Director (CSD) and principal/leadershipmeetings, School Leadership Team meetings, and other school-related gatherings.•Consistently assess quantitative and qualitative data to identify both successful areas andchallenges within individual schools and across the CSS community school network for continuousimprovement initiatives.•Create data snapshots that provide community schools and external partners with visualrepresentations of the impact of the community school initiatives.•Create and maintain data systems that showcase the overall impact of CSS's community schoolstrategy across schools.•Support with researching and networking with school districts across the country.•Establish systems to track the performance of community school partners who work with CSS toprovide contracted services in community schools.•Steward the development of toolkits and other centralized resources to support the standardizationand consistency of best practice implementation across the community school network, serving as afoundation for community school replicability.•Develop customizable data trackers and conduct data analysis for Attendance, Enrollment, StudentEngagement Efforts, Family Engagement, and Academic Outcomes.•Support the yearly implementation of thorough needs and asset assessment processes in communityschools. Assist in analyzing findings and collaborate with the ED on developing action plans.•Provide hands-on support tailored to the specific requirements of community schools based onwell-researched best practices.•Support the development of CSS's community schools as a defined, distinct, and connectednetwork of community schools.•Provide capacity building to community school team members to develop data analysis and datavisualization skills across the team. Engage in thought partnership with CSDs to support theplanning of data collection and tracking.The leader in this role will be expected to facilitate cross collaborative efforts and initiatives, includingbut not limited to the following:•Collaborate with the CSS Advancement Team colleagues to collect relevant data for fundraisingmessaging, external partnership engagement, and special visits to advance philanthropicinvestments.•Collaborate with the Program Impact team to create, enhance, and ensure alignment of datasystems that assess the impact of the community school solutions framework across all partnerschools and systems.•Collaborate with the Program Impact Team colleagues to identify capacity building opportunitiesand best practices among Community Schools Strategy colleagues and CSS program offerings.•Partner with colleagues throughout the Community Schools Strategy team to support messaging onsocial media, grant reports, and other promotional materials and/or publications, with CSS ExternalAffairs and Engagement colleagues.•Other special projects as assigned.Qualifications and ExperienceEducation: Bachelor's degree requiredProfessional Experiences: The candidate has 5-7 years of professional experience working inpublic service industries. such as education, social services, and/or public policy.In addition, the candidate has the following experience and/or has demonstrated the followingattributes:•Experience with school-based program evaluation•Ability to establish connections with schools and experience in fostering partnerships with amultitude of schools•Proficiency in analyzing and crafting data visualizations to represent student and school data•Understanding of continuous improvement practices and team-based change management•Ability to work effectively with school aged youth, educators, families and communities from awide range of cultural, social and economic backgrounds•Experience working in school-based settings, with knowledge about tenets of communityorganizing, student support services, and youth development theories•Knowledgeable in issues related to K-12 schools and education reform at a national level•Knowledgeable in student support services•Experience in program implementation is desirablePersonal Qualities/Skills: The candidate for this role will possess a wealth of knowledge oneducation in urban areas, with a strong understanding of research, evaluation, and data collectionmethods. They should excel in problem-solving, planning, and prioritizing tasks, embodying anambitious spirit with a willingness to dive in and get things done. Experience in education reform andsupporting students is crucial, along with the ability to thrive in a demanding environment whilejuggling multiple projects. Interpersonal skills are key, as the candidate should be adept at buildingrelationships both within the organization and our network of partnering community schools.Additionally, experience in research, such as co-authoring reports, creating data reports, and craftingnarratives about community school initiatives, will be highly valued in this role.The candidate will also demonstrate the following characteristics:•Excellent listening, writing, and speaking skills.•Highly effective time-management, goal setting, problem-solving, and decision-making skills•Ability to gather, analyze, synthesize, and communicate information from various sources.•Strong public speaking and group facilitation skills•Demonstrated ability to work independently and collaboratively•Flexibility, resourcefulness, and willingness to work evenings and weekends when required forsuccessful and timely completion of projects•Ability to use discretion and judgment in handling confidential and sensitive information•Knowledge of and an enthusiastic commitment to the organization's mission, solutions, andofferings•Ability to work collaboratively, with strong relationship building skills•Proficiency with Microsoft Office suite, Google Suite, Adobe, and website designLocationThe Director of Program Impact & Continuous Improvement, Community Schools Strategy will bebased in New York City / Jersey City. Occasional travel (