Job Announcement

INSTRUCTIONAL EXCELLENCE OFFICER,

Position recruited by Diversified Educators Empowerment Project (DEEP) to support its “Teaching Practices” component on the USAID-funded Liberia Foundational Skills Activity (LFSA)

Number of positions: 6 (1 in each county of the 6 counties: Montserrado, Bong, Margibi, Grand Bassa, Nimba, and Lofa).

Location of the position (s): LFSA County Offices with regular travel throughout the county. Note: In your application, please indicate the location of the position of your interest.

Start Date: October 11, 2024

End Date: October 25, 2024

Program Overview

Liberia Foundational Skills Activity (LFSA) is a USAID-funded five-year project designed purposefully to increase the percentage of Liberian children accessing primary school and meeting the government of Liberia’s learning standards especially in foundational English literacy. LFSA will improve education access and learning by increasing on-time enrollment, enhancing age-appropriate placement in classrooms, providing contextually appropriate teaching and learning materials, and improving instructional delivery and teacher wellbeing. LFSA will equip key education ecosystem actors with improved capacity, opportunity, and motivation to achieve results.

Led by Chemonics International in Liberia, LFSA is a five-year project implemented by a consortium of Liberian and international partners, including the Diversified Educators Empowerment Project (DEEP), Kid’s Educational Engagement Project (KEEP), WE-CARE, Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) Liberia, Foundation for Research, Education, and Empowerment (FREE) Liberia, Mathematica, and One World Network of Schools (OWNOS). The project will be implemented in six counties: Montserrado, Bong, Margibi, Grand Bassa, Nimba, and Lofa.

LFSA is expected to make a difference in Grades 1-6 children’s learning outcomes through interventions targeting four key Results (Rs):

• R1: Age six children are enrolled on time,

• R2: Children are placed in developmentally or age-appropriate classrooms, including accelerated learning classes,

• R3: Sufficient and contextually appropriate reading, teaching, and learning materials are available and used by learners, and

• R4: Teachers consistently apply evidence-based and developmentally appropriate teaching practices and learning materials in the classroom

Principal Duties and Responsibilities

The Instructional Excellence Officer position is critical to the success of the “teaching practices” component in each of the six counties. To achieve Foundational Literacy Instructional Excellence in the counties, the Instructional Excellence Officer will work in close coordination with decentralized educational leaders (CEOs, DEOs, Principals and VPIs) to effectively plan and deliver interventions that will continuously help teachers to improve their classroom practices so that each Grade 1-6 student is supported and motivated to improve their grade-level English literacy skills according to established learning standards and benchmarks. He/she will perform the following principal duties and responsibilities:

• Participate actively in the design and development of in-service teacher professional development interventions (training, CPD, coaching and mentoring activities, etc) designed to improve teachers’ instructional practices.
• Collaborate with other LFSA technical staff and county and district education stakeholders to support implementation of effective Foundational English literacy curricula focused on improving students’ learning outcomes.
• Provide support to DEOs, Principals and Vice Principals for Instruction in conducting classroom observations to assess teaching practices and student learning outcomes, collect and analyse data to inform instructional improvements and project goals.
• Work closely with DEOs, school administrators, government officials, and community leaders to promote community engagement and support for collaborative foundational literacy instructional initiatives.
• Support the implementation of in-service teacher training and CPD addressing diverse themes as foundational English literacy instruction, classroom management, learning assessment, Universal Design for Learning (UDL), Social Emotional Learning (SEL), Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) as well as School Safety and Teacher wellbeing.

• Coordinate, at the county level, the implementation of evidence-based interventions designed to develop the capacity of DEOs, principals and vice principals as instructional leaders.
• Participate in the design and development of training packages to implement integrated foundational English literacy curriculum for Grades 1-6 as well as accelerated learning program and designs, develops, and conducts Training of Trainers (ToTs) at county and district levels
• Coordinate at county level ToT activities for pool master trainers to implement in-service teacher training activities.
• Ensure that teachers are effectively integrating provided teaching and learning materials (TLMs) into their daily lessons to enhance student engagement and learning outcomes
• Collaborate with school leaders and partners to develop and implement initiatives that promote teacher motivation and retention, ensuring sustained improvements in instructional quality and alignment with broader project goals.
• Ensure that teacher professional development and classroom support are aligned with foundational literacy best practices
• Work with other country technical staff and MoE country staff to provide effective technical assistance to primary school teachers through regular pedagogical support including classroom observations and coaching.
• Support MoE county technical teams in their efforts to foster a positive and inclusive school culture, and encourage continuous improvement among teachers, school administrators and students.

• Participate actively in the preparation of reports and other technical deliverables.
• Stay abreast of emerging trends and innovations in the education sector to identify opportunities that can enhance LFSA
• Work with country education officers to ensure child protection and safeguarding standards, and report any violations using LFSA’s reporting channels
• Perform other tasks as assigned by the supervisor team

Supervision and Reporting

• The Instructional Excellence Officer will report to the LFSA County Program Manager or his/her designee.

Job Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in education, curriculum development or related field.
• At least 5 progressive years of experience in teaching, in-service teacher training, or managing USAID or other donor-funded education projects involved with teacher professional development.
• Demonstrated experience working within the primary education sector
• Demonstrated technical experience in the primary education sector managing teacher training and/or continuous professional developing interventions on USAID or other donor-funded activities
• Competency in using data and evidence to inform decision-making and improve instructional practices in a classroom or educational system setting.
• Familiarity with foundational literacy and teacher professional development creation and facilitation.
• Experience working with educational leadership (DEOs, principals, and vice principals) in supporting instructional practices and professional development initiatives.

• Strong knowledge of evidence-based literacy instruction practices.

• Experience in developing and implementing literacy programs, particularly in early grade literacy, to improve classroom practices and student learning outcomes.

• Knowledge and experience in inclusive education practices, with the ability to support teachers in adapting instructional methods for diverse learning needs.
• Proficiency with software such as Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc).
• Strong technical English writing skills

NOTE: To apply, send your cover letter and CV clearly articulating the required qualifications, experiences and competences to the following email address: blonkanjayjackson@gmail.com, & rose22saulwas@gmail.com, before the close of business on October 25, 2024.