Child Development Specialist Full Time

The primary scope of this position is to be responsible for assisting the Child Development Manager in the curriculum development and implementation process to ensure age-appropriateness, cultural, social, language, literacy, and other cognitive developmental needs of children. Responsibility also includes working with partner school districts, and partner programs and agencies to ensure the Head Start program is meeting expectations for preparing children for school; while actively and consistently striving to provide an exemplary innovate program that provides comprehensive quality services through commitment and leadership to empower the whole child, whole family by partnering with family, staff, and the community.

Essential Duties And Responsibilities

• Model, support and assist teaching staff as they implement the following:
• Plan and implement developmentally appropriate activities that promote children’s learning in literacy, language, cognitive, social / emotional, physical / health development.
• Implement “best practices” approaches and learning materials.
• Establish positive, caring, and nurturing relationships with children.
• Use a variety of ways of flexibly grouping children for the purposes of instruction, supporting collaboration among children, and building a caring community.
• Use different teaching strategies to ensure every child is successful in the classroom.
• Work with children with disabilities and other special needs.
• Provide a balance of individual, small group, and large group instruction time.
• Implement weekly lesson plans and follow classroom daily schedule.
• Conduct daily child observations and quarterly developmental assessments to collect individual child’s learning and progress for assessing each child’s outcomes and individualizing each child’s learning.
• Communicate with parents regarding children’s progress on a regular basis.
• Encourage parents to be involved in the curriculum through weekly family activities, classroom volunteering and attending monthly parent meetings.
• Serve family-style meals and/or snacks promoting good nutrition and food safety practices.
• Attend IEP meetings, which result in incorporating IEPs in the lesson plans.
• Ensure classroom is organized and classroom equipment and materials are clean for the children to use. Coordinate with all Head Start / Early Head Start Specialists, Licensing and Accreditation in the development of new or improved teaching approaches.
• Coordinate with the Head Start/Early Head Start Child Development Manager to identify the needs, problems, and expectations, of staff in relation to materials and teaching strategies.
• Coordinate with Operations Support Managers, Disabilities, Health, Mental Health, Social Services, and Nutrition Specialists to understand the needs that should be addressed in the children’s curriculum.
• Inform/teach/demonstrate to teaching staff how to implement “best practices” material, curricula, and approaches.
• Assist in producing and training teaching staff in a variety of settings (e.g., one-to-one, and small groups).
• Coordinate with Child Development and Professional Development Coordinator to develop a training plan based on individual center needs.
• Prepare reports and documentation as required.
• Produce written descriptions of materials, curricula, addressing special needs, and inform parents regularly of educational issues.
• Train staff to ensure knowledge and education is current.
• Provide positive, motivational, and relevant support services designed to help all staff.
• Tie in other department’s information to benefit teaching staff (i.e., new health issues to benefit children’s healthy behavior).
• Adheres to Head Start / Early Head Performance Standards and all regulation guidelines.
• This job description in no way states or implies that these are the only duties to be performed by the employee occupying this position. Employees will be required to follow any other job-related instructions and to perform any other job-related duties requested by their supervisor.
• This job description may be revised upon development of other duties and changes in responsibilities.

Key Responsibilities, Skills And Competencies Needed

• Must be a self-starter.
• Must be able to communicate effectively with team members and management.
• Must be results oriented.
• Must have superior organizational and time management skills.
• Must be able to work independently or on teams in challenging work atmosphere.
• Must have an exceptional aptitude for attention to detail.
• Must be able to prioritize and balance multiple projects and deadlines in a fast-paced, deadline driven environment.
• Must be able to plan and complete tasks and assignments on-schedule with minimal supervision using appropriate judgment.
• Must be able to exercise appropriate judgment, discretion, maintain the confidentiality of all Gulf Coast Community Services Association (GCCSA) stakeholders.
• Must be able to contribute to building a positive team spirit; put success of team above own interests; support everyone’s efforts to succeed.
• Must be able to show respect and sensitivity for cultural differences; promote a harassment-free environment.
• Must be able to treat people with respect and dignity; work with integrity and ethically uphold the Agency’s mission and values.

Description Of Work Environment

GCCSA’s work locations vary based on the duties and responsibilities of the GCCSA team member (e.g., office, workstation, classroom, food pantry, warehouse, training and/or counseling rooms). In general, the noise level is usually quiet to moderately noisy.

• Critical-Thinker
• Decisive
• Trustworthy
• Inclusive
• Servant-Leader

VITAL TRAITS

• People-person
• Adaptable
• Self-starter
• Energetic
• Results-oriented
• Respectful

Qualifications And Requirements

The following educational/experiential, licensing/certifications, communication, and physical demands outlined below must be evident and met satisfactorily:

• Education/Experience

Bachelor’s Degree required in Early Childhood Development, Elementary Education, or related field. Combination of lesser education with strong proven experience may be considered. Minimum of three (3) years of classroom teaching experience. Desired curriculum development and analysis background. Knowledge of adult learning styles and successful approaches to adult learning. Experience working in multi-disciplinary teams. Experience working with children, preferably birth to five years. Knowledge of problems of low-income families, especially minority groups. Experience in Head Start/Early Head Start preferred. Ability to provide large or small group training.

• Communication Skills

Must have the ability to read and comprehend intermediate to complex instructions. Bilingual English/Spanish preferred. Able to write concise, logical, and grammatically correct written communication and the ability to write simple and clear correspondence. Excellent oral and written communication skills are necessary to interact with all levels of management, colleagues, and staff to ensure consistency and proper procedure implementation.

• Physical Demands
• Remain in a stationary position at least 50% of the time;
• Move about various locations to access office equipment;
• Occasionally ascend/descend a ladder to assess and/or service equipment;
• Observe details at close range;
• Move items weighing up to 50 pounds;
• Travel to and from assigned work locations;
• Reach overhead and to the floor; and
• Wear personal protective equipment, when necessary.
• Travel Requirements
• Attend job-related activities such as meetings, training, workshops, etc., both in and out of the service areas;
• Have reliable transportation.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER STATEMENT

GCCSA is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, color, sex, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, or any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal, state, or local laws.

This policy applies to all employment practices within our organization, including hiring, recruiting, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, leave of absence, compensation, benefits, training, and apprenticeship. GCCSA makes hiring decisions based solely on qualifications, merit, and business needs at the time.

In addition, GCCSA retains the right to change or assign other duties to this position, as needed.

Americans With Disabilities Act Statement

If requested, GCCSA will attempt to provide reasonable accommodations to enable employees with disabilities to perform essential functions of their job, absent undue hardship.