Second Grade Special Education Teacher

The Learning Community, a vibrant public charter school that centers the voices of students, families, and teachers seeks a collaborative, dedicated 2^nd Grade Special Education Teacher passionate about supporting students to grow academically and socio-emotionally. The ideal candidate will be a highly motivated and experienced educator with a proven ability to provide individualized instruction and support to students with diverse learning needs. 
At Learning Community, Special Education Teachers are primarily responsible for individualized instruction and/or small group instruction, mainly teaching students with special learning needs as identified on their IEP.
At The Learning Community we believe that literacy empowers each individual to have a voice, take social action and assume community responsibility. We grow teacher leaders, student leaders and community leaders. If you became a teacher because you believe that education is the social justice issue of our time and you can see the potential for literacy and other subjects to support students as critical thinkers and key to living up to this mission, then you are a great candidate for this position! 
Day to Day Responsibilities:

• Develop and implement individualized education programs (IEPs) for students with disabilities in accordance with state and federal guidelines
• Support and advise general education teachers with providing accommodations, modifying work and providing special education services.
• Provide direct instruction and support to students with a variety of learning needs.
• Monitor student progress, collect data, and make ongoing adjustments to IEPs as needed. 
• Support student case management and coordination as needed.
• Communicate effectively with parents and guardians to ensure a collaborative approach to supporting student success
• Continuously seek out new information to improve your practice and impact with students, and share what you learn with the other classroom teachers you collaborate with and support.

Minimum Qualifications: To be considered for this position, all candidates must be certified or in the process of certification in the state of Rhode Island and must be U.S. citizens or residents or have work visas. In addition, they must demonstrate:

• Strong teaching abilities and a proactive approach to advocating for and meeting student needs. All Learning Community teachers are expected to create safe, fun, and rigorous learning environments, manage student behaviors, keep high engagement and reset the classroom when things go off-track. In addition to these responsibilities, Special Education teachers need to be especially effective at implementing specialized interventions to support students furthest from mastery to achieve their learning goals.

• Being a reliable, collaborative and consistently strong colleague and teammate. Our teaching teams work closely together, share some planning time weekly, and build on each other’s insights and strengths with students to meet their shared achievement goals. To excel at the Learning Community, teachers must be great at communicating with others, working through conflict, supporting their team and asking for the support they need. They also need to keep their commitments - showing up for themselves, their students, and their colleagues as they promise they will.

• Strong problem-solving skills, judgment and resilience. As a Special Education teacher, you will need to consider multiple areas of input and potential downstream impacts when coming to decisions related to particular students and how to best meet their needs. Special Education teachers that thrive at the Learning Community are excellent at considering various facets of student needs, rebounding from setbacks with students, shaking off mistakes, and learning and problem-solving to meet their goals. They bring creativity, problem-solving and an adaptable approach to most challenges, while keeping student safety and respect for our students, parents, and school community front and center in their choices. 

• Strong emotional intelligence and communication skills - especially in conflict or when collaborating with team members. The Learning Community aspires to be a space where we are all self and others aware, speak the truth directly to each other, fix mistakes quickly and own and repair any harm if it happens - whether with leaders, team members, students or families. We aim to communicate in a way that builds trust, makes decisions and organizational changes clear, and builds with our community - not just for them. 
• A strong lens on equity and inclusion as it relates to your work. As a Special Education teacher in a K-8 setting serving predominantly students and families of color, a strong understanding of how inequity shows up in special education and general education settings and an inclusive approach to communicating with and engaging families across lines of race and other dimensions of identity difference is a required must-have of this role.