Assistant Superintendent

ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT

As Assistant Superintendent, you will serve as a dynamic leader to support our Superintendent of Schools in delivering measurable results that continuously strengthen our district’s leadership effectiveness and instructional design and delivery to improve student outcomes and transform students’ lives. Our Assistant Superintendent will:

• Establish, communicate, and maintain the strongest possible vision of instructional excellence and the culture that supports it
• Support the professional growth and development of district principals and instructional strategists to deepen their effectiveness
• Oversee the vision, design, implementation, and facilitation of professional development and evaluation efforts for instructional staff
• Serve as a district leader in our commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) at the central office, school, classroom, and curriculum levels
• Design, implement, and monitor a disciplined goals-based and data-driven academic and professional development strategy
• Serve as the de facto Chief of Staff to the Superintendent of Schools to problem-solve, address emerging priorities, enrich the Cabinet’s effectiveness, and enhance capacity

Reports to: Superintendent of Schools

Supervises: Instructional Strategists

Qualifications: Love what you do, and the opportunity this position presents — especially your ability to shape and drive a high-performing instructional climate and culture dedicated to improving student outcomes. Proven academic leader with passion and a demonstrated track record of creating and maintaining high-performing instructional environments. Master’s degree required. A Master’s in education administration or curriculum-related degree preferred. Substantive classroom teaching experience required (ten years preferred). Experience working with teams of teachers or content creators preferred. Strong familiarity with major national rigorous curricula preferred. Our ideal candidate will be a strong instructional leader with both classroom and district administration experience, but we welcome candidates with educational and/or leadership backgrounds and expertise from outside the district-setting as well.

The Assistant Superintendent will be expected to focus on the following priorities:

• Establish a strong instructional vision of excellence: Develop a clear articulation of our instructional vision, including emphasis on standards, rigor, differentiation, intercultural competence, and inclusion.
• Support the vision for principal effectiveness: Collaborate with the Superintendent to ensure a best-in-class school improvement plan that articulates expectations, supports growth and development, and drives effectiveness and improvement.
• Deepen the impact of instructional strategists: Provide intensive oversight, training, guidance, and direction to maximize the effectiveness of our school-based instructional strategists.
• Align academics with the district’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) goals: Embed our district’s DEI philosophies, values, and priorities into our academic program.
• Advance the infrastructure for a goals-based data-driven approach: Ensure that our district has the data-collection systems it needs to generate, monitor and use data to assess progress-to-goals and to drive strategic decision-making in academics.
• Oversee educational support and acceleration: Identify educational losses, gaps, and needs; and establish and oversee a responsive, strategic and prioritized program to close gaps.

Responsibilities:

The Assistant Superintendent will be expected to:

High-Performing Culture of Instructional Excellence

• Articulate a clear vision of a high-performing instructional culture with a focus on high expectations; rigorous standards-based planning and instruction; innovative and high-quality curriculum that develops strong critical thinking at all grade-levels; cultural relevance; experiential and application-based learning; competency-based progression; and individualized staff and student support
• Plan and execute short- and long-term strategies to implement the district’s instructional vision — advancing the five-year strategic plan goals as well as responding to emerging needs and priorities.
• Use knowledge of curriculum content, curriculum development, and best practice instructional and assessment strategies — with ongoing input from district educators — to plan, implement, evaluate, improve, and innovate our instructional program to deliver the highest quality student learning experiences
• Leverage educational technology strategically, selectively, and deliberately to enhance student learning and educator effectiveness

Principal and Instructional Strategist Effectiveness

• Support the Superintendent in overseeing the growth and development of all district principals to improve their ability to serve as exceptional goals-driven and data-based instructional leaders
• Oversee the growth and development, strategy, and day-to-day management of all school-based instructional strategists to enhance their impact to improve teacher performance and student outcomes; support their abilities to use a goals-based and data-driven approach
• Establish regular ongoing data-based Talent Management conversations (using observations, student outcome data and all available evidence) with principals and instructional strategists to identify differentiated teacher development and retention priorities, including identification of our strongest performers, as well as teachers who need structured, formalized developmental support

Professional Development (PD) and Evaluation

• Use instructional data to identify and drive PD needs

• Design, develop, and facilitate engaging, relevant, and impactful professional learning for instructional staff; measure the efficacy of all PD efforts, and adjust design and content accordingly
• Design and implement meaningful and instructive feedback and accountability systems that result in improved instructional staff practices and measurable improvements in student achievement
• Establish and maintain a culture of continuous learning with ongoing cycles of observation, feedback and coaching for all prioritized instructional staff
• Support the design and implementation of evaluation processes for all instructional positions within the district

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Lens

• Lead our district’s academic teams with a strong DEI lens to ensure prioritization of cultural competence and fluency, multicultural perspectives, and intentional efforts to enhance school-based and classroom-based experiences of inclusion for staff and students
• Address negative instructional experiences by students or staff that conflict with our stated DEI priorities, values, and beliefs, and, when needed, respond with strategies to decrease reoccurrences
• Develop, recommend, and implement improvements to curriculum, academics and instruction with awareness and understanding of their impact on a community of diverse needs
• Demonstrate a commitment to the RSU 21 Equity Initiative by internalizing the district’s DEI priorities and policies; model behaviors to reinforce the equity-based, diverse, and inclusive culture we seek
• Reflect on personal biases that may impact your work, decision-making, and/or the culture of the district you help lead through a commitment to personal DEI growth

Data-driven and Goal-Based Academics Strategy

• Ensure that academic decision-making is driven by the analysis of comprehensive, relevant, accurate, and up-to-date data
• Manage with a goals-based approach; create and maintain a district-wide culture of ongoing accountability checks to gauge progress towards data-driven goals
• Develop disciplined data collection, monitoring, analysis and reporting routines to ensure the accessibility and timely integration of data into the ongoing cycles of instructional planning
• Partner with the IT Director, HR Director, and other key colleagues to establish reliable, secure, well-managed, and integrated data collection systems

Key District Leader

• Employ change management strategies, inspiring staff to try new methods and/or pivot to a new direction when needed — using evidence to persuade, build allies and celebrate wins along the way to invest staff in new approaches
• Develop a deep and functional collaborative relationship (including shared goals where relevant) with the HR Director to address areas of overlap between Academics and HR across the Talent Management spectrum to improve the quality, performance and effectiveness of all instructional staff
• Serve as a member of the Superintendent’s Cabinet; seek and share input to ensure a collaborative, cross-departmental approach; communicate instructional priorities to build consensus and support among the Cabinet, principals, and other stakeholders for academic initiatives
• Deliver cohesive, relevant, and compelling data-based presentations to colleagues, the School Board, district staff, the general public and others on district instructional priorities and progress
• Communicate district perspective effectively with all stakeholders including staff, students, families, and community members, while engaging stakeholders in ways that convey mutual respect and effective conflict management

Key Competencies:

• Change agent mindset: you see education as a relentless effort towards improving students’ lives; you believe in your ability to make a difference, and inspire others to believe the same; you are not satisfied with the status quo or “the way things have always been done”; you see education as a pivotal driver of opportunity
• Leadership orientation: you take strong positions, lean into difficult conversations and decisions, and occupy a clear leadership position amongst staff; you intervene and apply pressure when needed, embracing your authority
• District representative: you promote our strategies coherently and persuasively; you present our value convincingly and creatively and can defend it when questioned; you balance an urgent and aggressive approach with respectful boundaries; you deflect rather than internalize stakeholder stress
• Vibrant innovation: you inspire staff to push boundaries and to value a fresh, current, and dynamic approach — balanced only by a strategic imperative
• Nurtures a positive, generative culture: you create an environment for collaborative and thoughtful input from school-based and district-wide educators; you encourage creativity, flexibility, innovation and autonomy; you build a culture of continuous learning and feedback
• Strategist: you outline plans to achieve a new outcome; you can synthesize large amounts of evidence to identify a smarter or different approach; you connect analysis to recommendations; you take action on what’s most important; you drive work forward with an urgency to see results
• Subject expertise: you are seen as a leader in the academic field with notable knowledge and expertise; you stay abreast of emerging trends in curriculum and instruction; you are a lifelong learner and maintain relationships with those you admire in your field in order to learn from them

Reasonable Accommodations: RSU 21 will provide accommodations to an individual with a disability, as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) or applicable law, who has made the district aware of their disability, unless doing so would cause an undue hardship to the district.

Terms of Employment: As per contract, salary range is $125,000 to $135,000, commensurate with candidate qualifications and experience.

Evaluation: Performance of this job will be evaluated by the Superintendent, in accordance with the Board of School Directors Policy on evaluation.

RSU21 is an equal opportunity employer. We strive to be a welcoming and inclusive community that supports the safety and well-being of all of our students, faculty, and staff. We are committed to implementing programs and practices that support diversity, equity, and inclusion. As a part of this commitment, we welcome all applicants. RSU21 does not discriminate based on race, color, gender, gender identity, orientation, disability, religion, age, national origin, or any other status protected under federal, state, or local law. If you are a person of color, LGBTQ , disabled, or belong to any protected class, we encourage you to apply. Our diversity strengthens our mission to produce global citizens.

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $125,000.00 - $135,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Dental insurance
• Flexible spending account
• Health insurance
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Retirement plan
• Vision insurance

Experience level:

• 10 years

Schedule:

• 8 hour shift
• Monday to Friday
• On call
• Overtime

Ability to Relocate:

• Kennebunk, ME 04043: Relocate before starting work (Required)

Work Location: In person