Literacy Lead / Interventionist

Literacy Lead / Interventionist

Passionate. Innovative. Dedicated to every scholar’s success.

Literacy | Grades K-4

Full-Time, School Year • Reports to the Provost • Tuition-free public charter K–4 school, Canton, MS

Mississippi teaching certification preferred

Two grade levels behind is where this job starts.

Some of our scholars are reading two grade levels below where they should be. A third grader working at a first grade level. A fourth grader who still cannot decode reliably. That gap does not close on its own, it does not close with more of the same instruction, and it does not close by the end of the year unless somebody attacks it on purpose, every single day, with a plan.

We are hiring the person who does that.

Third grade reading is the hinge the rest of a child’s education swings on. Everything before it is preparation; everything after it assumes the skill is already there. We do not intend to lose a single scholar at that hinge — which means the work starts in kindergarten, not in March of third grade.

There is a quiet assumption that children from certain communities cannot post top numbers. Our scholars already disproved it once — 88% of our 3rd graders passed the Mississippi ELA reading assessment on their first attempt, more than 10 points above the state average, and we hold the highest 3rd grade reading scores of any charter school in Mississippi.

That number is not a trophy. It is a floor. We are hiring a Literacy Lead / Interventionist to raise it, and to make sure the scholars furthest behind are the ones who move the most. 

Be clear-eyed about what this is: we are a startup school in year four. Some of what you need does not exist yet — you will build it. We want founding-team energy, not “that is not my role.”

THE BAR

We are not looking for someone who has supported struggling readers. We are looking for someone who has taken scholars who were two or more grade levels behind and pulled them up — and who can show us the data that proves it.

In the interview we will ask you to walk us through a real case: a scholar who was two years back, what you diagnosed, what you did about it, how long it took, and what the numbers looked like when you finished. If you have done this work, that conversation will be easy and you will enjoy it. If you have not, this is not the right role.

Expected outcome for this position: scholars on your caseload gain 1.5 years of reading growth in a single school year. That is the target, and we will measure it. Anything less and the gap never closes — it just travels with the child into the next grade.

THE ROLE IN ONE SENTENCE

You carry a daily intervention caseload of our furthest-behind K-4 readers and you own the literacy picture for the whole school — the data, the coaching, the systems.

WHAT YOU WILL DO

Close two-year gaps.

• Carry a daily caseload of small-group and 1:1 intervention, prioritizing the scholars who are two or more grade levels below — plus the first and second graders we can catch before they ever get there.

• Diagnose precisely. “Behind in reading” is not a diagnosis. Find out whether it is phonemic awareness, decoding, fluency, vocabulary, language comprehension, or a combination — then target exactly that.

• Deliver explicit, systematic instruction aligned to the science of reading. Structured literacy, high dosage, daily, with fidelity. No guessing at words from pictures.

• Accelerate rather than remediate. A scholar two years back cannot close the gap at one year of growth per year. Plan for 1.5 from day one.

• Progress monitor often enough to know within two weeks whether an intervention is working — and change it when it is not.

• Innovate when the standard approach stalls. If a scholar is not moving, that is a problem to solve, not a diagnosis to accept.

Run the intervention system.

• Own MTSS for literacy in K–4: entry criteria, tiered supports, documentation, exit criteria, and the handoffs between tiers.

• Bring scholars who are not responding to intervention to the Teacher Support Team with real data, and participate in the referral process when a deeper evaluation is warranted.

• Collaborate with special education staff so scholars with IEPs and 504 plans get intervention that complements, not duplicates, their services.

• Support compliance with Mississippi’s third grade reading requirements, including individual reading plans for scholars identified as at risk.

Own the data.

• Run the K–4 literacy screening and benchmark cycle: administer, score, and turn the results into something teachers can actually act on Monday morning.

• Build and maintain the caseload — who is in intervention, why, what they are getting, and what it is producing.

• Sit in data meetings with a clear answer to the only question that matters: is what we are doing working, for which scholars, and how do we know?

• Report growth to the Provost, the board, and families in plain numbers, including when the numbers are disappointing.

• Hold your own numbers up as a mirror first. You would rather see an uncomfortable number in October than a comfortable assumption in April.

Coach the adults.

• Model lessons, observe, and coach K–4 teachers on core literacy instruction — the goal is fewer scholars needing you, not more.

• Lead literacy professional development that changes practice, not just attendance sheets.

• Support classroom teachers in building and running their own small-group instruction with fidelity.

• Train, schedule, and oversee the work of paraprofessionals, tutors, and volunteers so every adult working with a reader knows what they are doing and why.

Connect the whole day.

• Align core instruction, intervention, and our Extended Day and Saturday Academy literacy programming so a scholar hears the same message in every block.

• Partner with the Site Coordinator and non-school-hour educators so after-2:30 time targets the same skill gaps the daytime data identified. For a scholar two years behind, those extra hours are not enrichment — they are part of the plan.

• Keep classroom teachers, interventionists, and leadership talking about the same scholars with the same information.

Bring families in.

• Tell families honestly where their child actually is, including when the answer is two grade levels back, and what the plan is to close the gap.

• Give families concrete, doable strategies for supporting reading at home.

• Lead family literacy nights and workshops that send people home with something they can use, not a folder they will lose.

• Build partnerships — libraries, community organizations, literacy nonprofits — that put more books and more support around our scholars.

Choose and steward the tools.

• Recommend intervention curricula, screeners, and materials; manage the literacy resources we have and make the case for the ones we need.

• Keep our approach current with the research and with Mississippi’s literacy expectations, and translate both into what it means for our classrooms.

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR

• Documented success moving scholars who were two or more grade levels behind — specific scholars, specific interventions, specific growth data. Be ready to show us.

• Deep knowledge of the science of reading — structured literacy, phonics scope and sequence, and diagnostic assessment; LETRS training is a strong plus

• Diagnostic skill — you can tell the difference between a decoding problem and a comprehension problem in one sitting, and you teach to the actual cause

• Fluency with data — screeners, running records, benchmark assessments, progress monitoring, and the judgment to know what the numbers are and are not telling you

• Working knowledge of MTSS — tiered intervention, documentation, and the referral process

• The ability to coach adults — you can give a veteran teacher honest feedback and have them thank you for it

• Urgency without panic — a two-year gap is an emergency, and you work like it, without ever making a child feel like one

• Bachelor’s degree in education, literacy, English, or a related field; master’s in reading, literacy, or curriculum preferred

• Valid Mississippi teaching certification required — held, or in progress through an alternate route you have already started. Reading/literacy endorsement, dyslexia therapy credential, or elementary certification with a literacy specialization is a plus. Retired educators are welcomed and encouraged to apply.

• Minimum 3 years teaching or intervening in K–4 literacy, with documented results

• Visible passion for this work — scholars and families can tell in five minutes whether an adult wants to be there, and so can we

• A startup, entrepreneurial mindset — you see a gap and build the bridge

• Genuine warmth and the same high expectations for scholars of every socioeconomic background

• A conviction that a child’s ZIP code and a child’s ceiling have nothing to do with each other

• Ability to pass a background check

WHO WE ESPECIALLY WANT TO HEAR FROM

• Reading interventionists and literacy specialists with a track record of a year and a half of growth or better in a single year

• Certified and retired teachers with a reputation as the one who gets the non-readers reading

• Instructional coaches and literacy coordinators who want to be close enough to scholars to still teach them

• Dyslexia therapists and academic language therapists looking for a school that will actually use what they know

SCHEDULE AND COMPENSATION

• Full-time, school year, on campus in Canton, MS.

• Competitive salary based on certification, credentials, and experience

• Paid planning and professional development

• A real seat at the table — you will help set the school’s literacy direction, not just execute someone else’s

HOW TO APPLY

Apply online at https://www.sr1cpsa.org/employment-application or send a resume and a cover letter to info@sr1cpsa.org

ABOUT SR1 CPSA

SR1 CPSA is Mississippi’s first and only STEM-focused college preparatory public charter school — tuition-free, mission-driven, and growing fast in Canton, MS. We believe in Learning By Doing, and in making the world better tomorrow by educating scholars

academically and socially today.

A Commitment to Excellence is not a slogan we hang in the hallway; it is the standard we hold every adult in the building to, because it is the standard we hold our scholars to.

If that sounds like you, we want to hear from you.

SR1 College Preparatory and STEM Academy is an equal opportunity employer.