Specialist, Connected Schools

Office:

Office of School Improvement and Supports

Date Posted:

6/11/2026

Salary Range:

1-5 / $87,024 - $98,195

NTE Date:

N/A

Position Overview

The mission of the Office of School Improvement and Supports (OSIS) is to ensure we support our schools and our students to succeed and to meet the Goals of our Strategic Plan. The Office works to dramatically accelerate the number of excellent schools through school transformation, including design, partnerships, Connected Schools, and Comprehensive School Planning (CSP). The Office develops, aligns, and delivers high-quality supports to ensure students, particularly students furthest away from opportunity, are in school, able to engage in rigorous learning, and have a joyous educational environment. The Office ensures our schools have excellent leaders, educators, and staff who are prepared to meet the diverse needs of the young people we serve.

Divisions/Teams

School Improvement

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School Performance: Promotes data-driven decision-making through a cycle of continuous improvement to develop, implement, and monitor the comprehensive school plan designed to move schools toward a consistent standard of excellence.

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Design: Designs innovative school models that transform learning for our students furthest from opportunity and supports District workstreams to be more grounded in community voice by anchoring in data, community engagement and understanding, and elevating and integrating student voice.

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Connected Schools: Supports schools in implementing the DCPS Connected Schools Model. Connected Schools take a whole child, whole school, whole community approach by making schools spaces that support not only a student’s academic development, but also the student and family’s overall wellbeing through access to resources related to health, employment, housing, and more.

Student Supports

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School Mental Health: Ensures that students' behavioral and social-emotional needs are met to increase access to the curriculum, strengthen emotional regulation and prosocial skills, and respond to school communities in times of crisis.

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Student Placement: Ensures every student that requires a change in school assignment based on housing status, military transition, community release or other special circumstance receives a placement that considers their unique needs for school success.

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Student Health Services: Ensures access to preventative and coordinated services for all students to support health and wellness, appropriate care of students with chronic health conditions and prevent absenteeism due to health-related factors.

Learning and Development Sciences

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Learning and Development Sciences Division (LDS) is charged with supporting the district’s Strategic Plan goals on Safety and Belonging. Grounded in the latest science of learning and development and powered by lived experiences, the district’s approach is a long-term vision that incorporates critical system shifts, codifies the most effective evidence-based practices, and supports individual schools to implement systems and practices that create favorable conditions for learning.

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Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS): DCPS’s approach to tiered supports is grounded in a commitment to serving the whole child. The MTSS team supports schools to understand student and staff strengths and needs holistically and supports their implementation of aligned evidence-based best practices across academics, social-emotional learning, attendance, and behavior.

IMPACT: IMPACT is DCPS’ effectiveness assessment system for all school-based staff. IMPACT endeavors for all school-staff members to receive timely and accurate feedback on their performance and to have that performance recognized and rewarded. The ultimate goal of IMPACT is to ensure that all students, at all schools, have access to a highest quality staff members across all roles.

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IMPACT Operations: The team coordinates across DCPS to develop guidance for individual components that reflect DCPS’ priorities, manages external vendors for the accurate and timely production of scores for various components, manages a helpline where all staff can reach out with questions about their evaluation, supports managers to ensure all evaluations are conducted with fidelity, and produces data analysis to support the mission of other teams across DCPS.

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IMPACT Align: This team develops tools to ensure all teacher evaluators have what they need to apply DCPS’ classroom observation rubric accurately and consistently; produces resources and guidance designed to build fluency in the observation rubric among teachers; supports principal and instructional superintendent alignment with respect to DCPS’ school leader evaluation rubric; and collaborates with teams across DCPS to ensure all supported rubrics continue to provide a clear language of effectiveness that supports the mission of IMPACT.

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IMPACT Design: This team gathers and responds to feedback from DCPS leadership, staff and other central services teams. This team uses this feedback to consider possible adjustments to IMPACT to ensure the evaluation system remains accurate and aligned to DCPS priorities. The team also liaises with other states, districts, education groups, and researchers to learn from the best practices and lessons learned in the field of staff and school leader evaluation.

The Specialist, Connected Schools will work to maximize the impact of the DCPS Connected Schools model and related place-based strategies on student and family success. The Specialist will (1)
support key initiatives, including the implementation of the Connected Schools Model and Ward 8 place-based strategies, and (2) develop and implement the tools & supports needed to ensure initiatives are making data-driven impact on student/school/district outcomes. This role will work directly with school leaders and staff, district leaders, partner organizations and other external stakeholders to facilitate the implementation community school and whole-child support strategies.

This position has been designated as Security Sensitive. Pursuant to section 410 of Chapter 4 of the D.C. Personnel Regulations; in addition to the general suitability screening, individuals applying for or occupying security sensitive positions are subject to the following checks and tests: Criminal background check; Sex Offender Registry check; Traffic record check (as applicable); Consumer credit check (as applicable); Reasonable suspicion drug and alcohol test; and Post-accident or incident drug and alcohol test.

The Specialist, Connected Schools will report to the Director, Connected Schools.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

The below statements are intended to describe the general nature and scope of work being performed by this position. This is not a complete listing of all responsibilities, duties, and/or skills required. Other duties may be assigned.

- Applies deep content knowledge and relevant expertise to community school, family engagement and whole-child support projects; advises senior management in specific areas of focus; and helps build competency in others.
- Supports the implementation of community school and place-based strategies across a portfolio of schools, strengthening partnership strategies, and ensuring alignment to core model elements.
- Collects and analyzes school-level data and community context to help design and refine whole-child and student support systems, place-based services, and family engagement strategies that respond to identified needs.
- Coordinate across central office teams and external partners to streamline resources, share best practices, and ensure high-quality, consistent execution of initiatives.
- Develops strategy and clear, specific, and ambitious performance measures for individual projects that are easily translated into individual work goals and deliverables for other team members.
- Creates detailed timelines for each initiative; assesses and tracks project progress regularly using various computer programs and tools; and drives project completion holding others accountable for responsibilities and deadlines.
- Helps manage the collection, analysis and presentation of data and progress of data-driven initiatives for senior management team and external audiences; and communicates progress to key stakeholder groups and incorporates their input.
- Anticipates, identifies, and resolves complex obstacles to success of overall program as well as specific projects.
- Interviews and surveys other colleagues and management teams to determine opportunities for improvement; researches specific issues; and develops detailed recommendations and implementation plans to resolve.
- Builds relationships and liaises with various internal departments to drive collaboration and project success; and interacts with and responds effectively to urgent requests from multiple internal and external DCPS stakeholders.
- Interacts with and responds effectively to urgent requests from multiple internal and external DCPS stakeholders.

Qualifications

- Bachelor's degree and three to five years of related work experience.
- Master's degree preferred.
- Previous exposure to or experience in the education sector a plus.
- Previous experience developing and implementing community school models strongly preferred.
- Proven track record in fostering relationships with diverse stakeholders and supporting collaborative projects across organizational divisions.
- Excellent analytical abilities, including the ability to collect, clean and closely analyze qualitative and quantitative data to inform strategic planning and decision making.
- Previous experience in coaching and training other adults a plus.
- Strong attention to detail and accuracy of information; and the ability to track multiple projects simultaneously, set priorities for support, and work with numerous stakeholders.
- Excellent communication skills, including ability to contribute additively to discussions, drawing upon expertise to influence group outcomes.
- Works well under pressure without sacrificing quality of work, and is adaptive to change.

DCPS Values

- STUDENTS FIRST: We recognize students as whole children and put their needs first in everything we do.
- COURAGE: We have the audacity to learn from our successes and failures, to try new things, and to lead the nation as a proof point of PK-12 success.
- EQUITY: We work proactively to eliminate opportunity gaps by interrupting institutional bias and investing in effective strategies to ensure every student succeeds.
- EXCELLENCE: We work with integrity and hold ourselves accountable for exemplary outcomes, service, and interactions.
- TEAMWORK: We recognize that our greatest asset is our collective vision and ability to work collaboratively and authentically.
- JOY: We enjoy our collective work and will enthusiastically celebrate our success and each other.

We are an equal opportunity employer and are committed to creating an inclusive, accessible workplace. We welcome and encourage applications from individuals with disabilities. Accommodation and/or application assistance is available upon request at all stages of the application and employment process. To request accommodation, please contact dcps.eeo-ada@k12.dc.gov.