Professor, Special Education

Job Title: Professor, Special Education 

Type: Full-time

Start Date: May 30, 2023

Location: Remote Position, Flexible within the U.S.

SUMMARY

Relay Graduate School of Education (Relay) is welcoming applications for faculty and staff positions on the teacher preparation team. Relay’s mission is to ensure that all students are taught by outstanding educators. Our vision is to build a more just world where every student has access to outstanding educators and a clear path to a fulfilling life. Individuals dedicated and well versed in culturally responsive pedagogy, social justice in education, and exceptional teaching practices will have an opportunity to thrive while ensuring licensure and graduate students at Relay fulfill their aspirations of becoming teachers.  

The Professor, Special Education is an innovative role at Relay, reporting to the Department Chair, Teaching Exceptional Learners. As Relay’s programmatic approach evolves to support Relay students, the scope of this role will evolve to ensure successful program delivery. The Professor, Special Education will provide critical input to Relay’s overall approach to teacher preparation and must be comfortable being adaptable and navigating a shifting landscape as Relay launches a new programmatic approach to providing support to their students. 

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES 

The essential responsibilities of this position, while not limited to the following, will include: 

• Teaching Responsibilities: You will  internalize courses, designed by our curriculum design faculty and teach multiple courses (3-9 credits per term) two nights a week and potentially one Saturday a month. All Relay faculty seek to strengthen their implementation of the curriculum through observations of our teaching, feedback protocols, and collaboration.  
• Student Experience:  You will ensure exceptional student experience within department courses and programmatic structures. Ensuring students are supported throughout the courses to reach their full potential and serve their Pk-12 students with the knowledge learned within the course  (class sizes are approximately 50 students per class). While ensuring all department courses taught by you and your faculty you manage are mission aligned, student centered, and continuously improving based on student input.
• Faculty & Department Management: As the department grows, via student enrollment, under the leadership of the Department Chair of Teaching Exceptional Learners, you will be responsible for supporting the department by supervising Assistant Professors of Practice, part-time teaching assistants and adjunct faculty. Your support will include developing the more junior faculty through observations and feedback. In addition, conducting periodic performance reviews of goals and leading department projects as defined by the department chair and aligned to the department's initiatives and the  institutional strategic plan.
• Programmatic & Design Responsibilities: You will support the design and continuous improvement of the programs and courses offered within the Teaching Exceptional Learners department by providing ongoing feedback on the curriculum design and helping design elements of specific modules within courses where needed.
• Institutional Service: All Relay faculty are expected to serve the institution through committee, working group, and/or board membership. 

QUALIFICATIONS

First and foremost, the Professor, Special Education must share the Relay community’s commitment to working together to improve student growth and achievement through phenomenal teacher preparation grounded in diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism. This includes providing teacher preparation programs that set novice teachers up to succeed in the classroom from day one; leadership programs that train new and veteran school and district leaders to best serve their school communities; and teacher-facing professional education that provides ongoing learning to educators. Additionally, for this position we’re looking for candidates that possess a combination of the following skills: 

Minimum Qualifications:

• Classroom teaching experience at the elementary, middle, or secondary level
• Graduate degree (masters and/or doctorate) in a relevant educational field (ie. Special Education) 
• Demonstrated design and/or teaching experience with online coursework
• Evidence using online modalities to teach adult learners via collegiate courses and/or school based professional development 
• Evidence of strong interpersonal skills 
• Evidence of developing collegial relationships and work with ethnically, racially, and linguistically diverse individuals and teams
• Evidence observing, coaching, and developing new PK-12 teachers
• Availability to teach and/or observe faculty two nights a week and potentially one Saturday a month 

The following qualifications are highly preferred:

• Evidence of or potential for a deep understanding of educator preparation landscape across the country.. 
• Evidence of or potential for are advancing justice, diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-oppressive initiatives in service of teacher preparation. 
• Evidence of or potential for, active involvement in national organizations in the field of education
• Evidence of strong project management skills paired with the ability to synthesize information from a variety of sources

Relay prepares teachers and school leaders to teach students of all identities and backgrounds in order to push toward a time when this country no longer faces stark educational inequities. We recruit, develop, support, and retain a diverse staff, faculty, and graduate student body because we are committed to creating a diverse, inclusive, and actively anti-racist institution. We know, and the data supports, that diversity, equity, and inclusion cultivate an environment in which people of all backgrounds can thrive and this is critical to achieving our mission of educational excellence and equity.

To fulfill that commitment, Relay encourages applicants of all backgrounds and identities to apply for roles that align with their own interests and career trajectory. If you meet a majority of the qualifications and see yourself in this role, we would love to see your application!

COMPENSATION

Relay is committed to creating and maintaining a compensation and benefits system that supports our ability to recruit and retain a diverse and talented team. As we make decisions about compensation, we will be guided by the following values: clarity, consistency, and internal equity. The salary range for this role is $87,057 to $105,339. New hires will be offered a salary at the starting point of the range to allow for an equitable starting salary process and continual salary growth during an employee’s time at Relay GSE.

To ensure internal pay equity:

• Relay does not currently differentiate starting salary offers based on years of experience
• All staff salaries will be capped at the salary range maximum, and
• Relay does not negotiate salary offers.

Relay offers a comprehensive total rewards package. For full-time roles, this includes health insurance benefits, disability and life insurance, retirement plan, professional development, gym reimbursement, adoption assistance, paid time off (PTO), parental leave, etc. To learn more about Relay’s benefits, please visit here. 

COVID-19 VACCINATION POLICY

Relay requires that all staff be fully vaccinated with an FDA or WHO authorized vaccine (or approved for an exemption as a reasonable accommodation due to a medical reason or sincerely held religious belief). Relay abides by each state’s requirements, and acknowledges those may change over time. If moved forward to the phone screen stage, you will have the chance to ask your recruiter more about this requirement.

Relay Graduate School of Education provides equal employment opportunity for all applicants and employees.