District Overview 

 

The Holyoke Public Schools are committed to ensuring a high-quality education for all. We have invested in recruiting and retaining diverse top-quality educators who inspire bold thinking, recognize student potential, and encourage all students to work towards their goals. In Holyoke, we are committed to becoming an anti-racist district by focusing on: 

• Anti-Racism Training for All Staff Members 
• Policy Review and Revision 
• Facilitating School Visits Through an Equity Lens 
• Establishing the Holyoke Race and Equity Team 
• Establishing Equity Indicators for Accountability of HPS Employees, Students, 
• and Partners 

We know that students do their best when they pursue their passions, so we have designed multiple pathways where all students graduate prepared to excel in college, career, and 

community leadership. Holyoke Public Schools (HPS) serves 5,400 students (of which over 80% are Latinx) in 12 schools and employs nearly 1,500 people.The District was placed into 

receivership by the State of Massachusetts in Spring 2015, because of struggling performance, and has since implemented a Turnaround Plan that has led to expanded choice programs (such as dual language, STEM, and early college) and new opportunities for students to explore the arts, sports, sciences, and local and world cultures. Since 2015, the District has experienced numerous accomplishments for instance: 

• doubling access to PreK programming 
• 10-point graduation rate increase 
• 85 percent increase in access to early college programming 
• 9-point increase (to 22%) in hiring teachers of color 

Instructional Coach (Expert Teacher) Overview 

Instructional Coach/Expert Teacher (IC/ET) are exceptional educators who are recognized as models of excellence. IC/ET have at least five years of relevant experience, possess deep 

expertise in their craft as an outstanding educator, and are able to support the continual 

development of all teachers. The IC/ET will collaborate/assist the District Academic Department and schools to support the district’s improvement, including but not limited to curriculum resource development, professional development facilitation, coaching staff, leading teacher collaboration, and participation in focus groups/additional training, etc. 

 

The Instructional Coach/Expert Teacher will focus on enhancing student learning and 

achievement leading to improved school performance. In order to accomplish these goals, the Instructional Coach (Expert Teacher) will work with teachers and school administrators to enhance teachers’ ability to provide instruction that is engaging, academically rigorous, 

culturally responsive, builds off students' funds of knowledge, and aligned to the district adopted curriculum. The Instructional Coach (Expert Teacher) will focus his/her work on the

implementation of school and district priorities and adopted curricula, using student performance data and classroom observations to guide their work. Using the structures of department/grade level team meetings, professional development time, and classroom based coaching, the Instructional Coach (Expert Teacher) will work with teachers in small groups and individually to support their improved practice. The School-based Instructional Coach (Expert Teacher) may also be responsible for providing at least one cohort of students with explicit intervention to accelerate their learning and achievement. The Instructional Coach (Expert Teacher) will complete 10 extra work days beyond the teacher’s contract in order to support the district (5 days determined by the Executive Director of Academics- to occur primarily during our new teacher induction series) and school-based planning (5 days determined by the principal). 

 

Responsibilities 

 

Under the direction of District directors and the school principal: 

1. Thoughtfully and deliberately cultivate collaborative relationships with teachers, administrators, and fellow Instructional Coaches (Expert Teachers) in order to effectively influence strong culturally responsive classroom practice. 
2. Work with the Academic Department and School leadership to ensure cohesive, districtwide use of best practices in coaching, develop/coordinate vertically aligned curriculum, and support consistent instructional practices. 
3. Work with teachers to ensure their instruction is aligned to the appropriate standards, curriculum, and assessments, as well as to help teachers enhance themselves as learners. This will include, but is not limited to: 

• Supporting the implementation of district approved curriculum at all tiers of learning
• Supporting the successful implementation and analysis of interim assessments
• Leading planning and data meetings in content expertise 
• Understanding the district scope and sequence (across all grade levels) and SAS alignment 
• Maintaining a confidential relationship with teachers in order to observe classroom instruction and offer comprehensive analysis and feedback 
• Conducting demonstrations and modeling lessons for classroom teachers Lead teacher study groups and/or PLCs to increase content and pedagogical of content instruction 
• Attending professional development and sharing new learning with staff 

1. Provide intervention support to at least one cohort of students (school-based coaches only) 
2. Support development of curriculum by facilitating work groups 
3. Cultivate a standards-based, data and results-oriented culture 
4. Lead and participate in ongoing and job-embedded professional development for the purpose of conveying and/or gathering information related to content knowledge, pedagogy and coaching 
5. Collaborate with teachers, principals, and academic directors in determining appropriate resources and materials for future purchases. Review and revise current curriculum materials to ensure that all resources represent diverse cultural experiences and support anti-racist goals of the district. 
6. Serve as a resource in identifying appropriate research-based instructional strategies and interventions to improve student learning and achievement 
7. Serve as content experts/consultants on school-based or district learning walks 

Eligibility and Qualifications 

 

Instructional Coach (Expert Teacher) Eligibility 

 

To qualify as an Instructional Coach (Expert Teacher), you must: 

• Demonstrate that you are culturally competent in your teaching, teamwork, and leadership practices 
• Commit to support the implementation of culturally responsive and anti-racist teaching practices to promote equity for all students 
• Possess experience and skill to lead adults on the implementation of effective anti-racist, high quality teaching practices 
• Build strong, supportive relationships with students, teachers, and families
• Experience as a teacher leader or Instructional Coach preferred 
• Bilingual (Spanish/English) preferred 
• Meet the criteria to be an Advanced Teacher 
• Completed at least five years of full-time K-12 relevant teaching, successful urban 
• experience preferred 
• Possess or able to obtain a Professional Massachusetts teaching license in the content 
• area assigned (Elementary, Math, ELA/Reading, ESL) 
• A Master’s degree from an accredited college or university 

Additional Qualifications 

• Excellent oral and written communication skills 
• Strong interpersonal skills 
• High expectations for self and others, and the ability to help others meet those high 
• expectations 
• Proven leadership and exceptional ability to lead people 
• Ability to organize workload independently and set priorities; to adapt quickly to changing priorities; and perform multiple interrelated tasks under deadline pressures 
• Proven track record of strong strategic planning and problem solving 
• Understanding of student-centered coaching models 

Compensation 

The annual base salary of Instructional Coaches (Expert Teacher) will be $85,000. Instructional Coaches (Expert Teacher) will be reviewed and re-appointed every two years based on effectiveness in the role.