Director of Program Impact & Continuous Improvement, CSS Community Schools Strategy - Center For Supportive Schools : Job Details

Director of Program Impact & Continuous Improvement, CSS Community Schools Strategy

Center For Supportive Schools

Job Location : New York,NY, USA

Posted on : 2025-01-17T22:19:12Z

Job Description :

About CSSCenter for Supportive Schools (CSS) is an anti-racist, fast-paced, collegial, and team-oriented organization wholly committed to helping schools become places where students want to be. Our work directly addresses student disengagement, a root cause of diminished academic performance, students dropping out of school, and other high-risk student behaviors. We partner with schools in three areas: developing all students into leaders; empowering teachers to collaborate with each other and with students; and engaging entire school communities to improve how learning happens. CSS is driven by the vision that one day, all students will thrive in schools that graduate them prepared for the rigors of college and lives filled with meaningful work, active citizenship, and personal fulfillment.

We are committed to antiracism. Our vision for students will not be realized absent the dismantling of systemic racism that permeates schools and society. Schools are not safe, supportive, engaging, and inspiring unless they address all areas of marginalization and eradicate all the many interconnected forms of oppression. CSS's focus on antiracism results from the outsized role that racism has played in shaping the United States and its institutions, from the fact that racism intersects with all other forms of oppression and given that which we learn and develop-tools, frameworks, resources-in dismantling racism can be leveraged to abolish all other forms of oppression. Founded in 1979, we are a national organization currently impacting 65,000 students annually and committed to supporting every K-12 school in the country. Most of our partners are economically disadvantaged communities where the consequences of student disengagement can be most devastating.

About Community SchoolsCommunity Schools offer a holistic approach toward improving academic performance driven by strong, collaborative partnerships among principals, parents, teachers, and many other organizations. In Community Schools, parents are active partners in their children's education. Each student is connected to a mentor, club, academic services and/or social services. The school climate is joyful and positive. Extended school days or weekend classes are commonplace. An integral part of this approach is the blending of school- and community-based services into the school day, including health, mental health, counseling, and academic enrichment.

Community Schools across New York City and Jersey City are instrumental in helping schools catch up or leap ahead, and in putting all of our students on the path to four-year colleges and long-term careers. Our delivery of the Community Schools strategy enables CSS to help students achieve success through:

  • Meaningful family involvement in decision making around student needs
  • Meaningful interactions with community-based services and programs
  • Maximization of academic programming, college and career preparation, and extended weekend and afterschool programming
  • Robust data monitoring and attendance taking practices

    • The RoleThe full-time Director of Program Impact & Continuous Improvement, Community Schools Strategy, will lead the data and impact evaluation strategy for community schools in partnership with the Executive Director, Community Schools Strategy. This role provides support, execution, and leadership for the evaluation and understanding of, as well as supporting the continued development of CSS's community school strategy. Working closely with the Executive Director of Community School Strategy, this role will provide support with data and project management, while enhancing the evaluation process of the community school programs at across our community school sites. This role will actively assess the impact of CSS's community school strategy. This involves documenting best practices, assisting senior leadership in strategy development, offering technical support to CSDs, facilitating internal professional development initiatives, and developing tools and resources to evaluate and communicate our impact within schools and ensuring fidelity. Additionally, the leader in this role will offer expertise and partnership across functions within the organization, aligned with strategic priorities of the community schools portfolio.

    Key Job ResponsibilitiesThis person will engage in the following activities:

  • Evaluate the practices in place to enhance student progress within the CSS community school network, providing support where needed.
  • Coordinate and identify partnerships that will provide long-term support for sustainable community schools programming in New York City.
  • Assist the Executive Director of Community School Strategy with organizing logistics for planning special events, site visits and onboarding prospective partnerships.
  • Coordinate regular visits to various schools, document best practices, and support with the success of key initiatives like Student Success Team meetings, Community School Team meetings, family night events, parent-teacher conferences, Parent-Teacher Association meetings, Community School Forums, grade team meetings, Community School Director (CSD) and principal/leadership meetings, School Leadership Team meetings, and other school-related gatherings.
  • Consistently assess quantitative and qualitative data to identify both successful areas and challenges within individual schools and across the CSS community school network for continuous improvement initiatives.
  • Create data snapshots that provide community schools and external partners with visual representations of the impact of the community school initiatives.
  • Create and maintain data systems that showcase the overall impact of CSS's community school strategy across schools.
  • Support with researching and networking with school districts across the country.
  • Establish systems to track the performance of community school partners who work with CSS to provide contracted services in community schools.
  • Steward the development of toolkits and other centralized resources to support the standardization and consistency of best practice implementation across the community school network, serving as a foundation for community school replicability.
  • Develop customizable data trackers and conduct data analysis for Attendance, Enrollment, Student Engagement Efforts, Family Engagement, and Academic Outcomes.
  • Support the yearly implementation of thorough needs and asset assessment processes in community schools. Assist in analyzing findings and collaborate with the ED on developing action plans.
  • Provide hands-on support tailored to the specific requirements of community schools based on well-researched best practices.
  • Support the development of CSS's community schools as a defined, distinct, and connected network of community schools.
  • Provide capacity building to community school team members to develop data analysis and data visualization skills across the team. Engage in thought partnership with CSDs to support the planning of data collection and tracking.

    • The leader in this role will be expected to facilitate cross collaborative efforts and initiatives, including but not limited to the following:

  • Collaborate with the CSS Advancement Team colleagues to collect relevant data for fundraising messaging, external partnership engagement, and special visits to advance philanthropic investments.
  • Collaborate with the Program Impact team to create, enhance, and ensure alignment of data systems that assess the impact of the community school solutions framework across all partner schools and systems.
  • Collaborate with the Program Impact Team colleagues to identify capacity building opportunities and best practices among Community Schools Strategy colleagues and CSS program offerings.
  • Partner with colleagues throughout the Community Schools Strategy team to support messaging on social media, grant reports, and other promotional materials and/or publications, with CSS External Affairs and Engagement colleagues.
  • Other special projects as assigned.

    • Qualifications and ExperienceEducation: Bachelor's degree requiredProfessional Experiences: The candidate has 5-7 years of professional experience working in public service industries, such as education, social services, and/or public policy. In addition, the candidate has the following experience and/or has demonstrated the following attributes:

  • Experience with school-based program evaluation
  • Ability to establish connections with schools and experience in fostering partnerships with a multitude of schools
  • Proficiency in analyzing and crafting data visualizations to represent student and school data
  • Understanding of continuous improvement practices and team-based change management
  • Ability to work effectively with school aged youth, educators, families and communities from a wide range of cultural, social and economic backgrounds
  • Experience working in school-based settings, with knowledge about tenets of community organizing, student support services, and youth development theories
  • Knowledgeable in issues related to K-12 schools and education reform at a national level
  • Knowledgeable in student support services
  • Experience in program implementation is desirable

    • Personal Qualities/Skills:The candidate for this role will possess a wealth of knowledge on education in urban areas, with a strong understanding of research, evaluation, and data collection methods. They should excel in problem-solving, planning, and prioritizing tasks, embodying an ambitious spirit with a willingness to dive in and get things done. Experience in education reform and supporting students is crucial, along with the ability to thrive in a demanding environment while juggling multiple projects. Interpersonal skills are key, as the candidate should be adept at building relationships both within the organization and our network of partnering community schools. Additionally, experience in research, such as co-authoring reports, creating data reports, and crafting narratives about community school initiatives, will be highly valued in this role.

  • Excellent listening, writing, and speaking skills.
  • Highly effective time-management, goal setting, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
  • Ability to gather, analyze, synthesize, and communicate information from various sources.
  • Strong public speaking and group facilitation skills.
  • Demonstrated ability to work independently and collaboratively.
  • Flexibility, resourcefulness, and willingness to work evenings and weekends when required for successful and timely completion of projects.
  • Ability to use discretion and judgment in handling confidential and sensitive information.
  • Knowledge of and an enthusiastic commitment to the organization's mission, solutions, and offerings.
  • Ability to work collaboratively, with strong relationship building skills.
  • Proficiency with Microsoft Office suite, Google Suite, Adobe, and website design.

    • LocationThe Director of Program Impact & Continuous Improvement, Community Schools Strategy will be based in New York City / Jersey City. Occasional travel (

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