Associate Special Education Director

Please send a resume and cover letter to Jobs@ibrainnyc.org unless a specific job description specifies otherwise.

Associate Special Education Director

The International Academy for the Brain (iBRAIN-Academy) is one of the largest brain-injury special education programs in the world. iBRAIN-Academy's mission is to research, develop, and implement special education and related services for school-aged (3 to 21 years of age) students, as well as the development of a fully-inclusive education model, predicated on our Common Planning and Clinical-Educational Grand Rounds Model.

iBRAIN-Academy is headquartered in New York City with current locations in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Washington, D.C. iBRAIN is expanding to add an out-patient clinic (iBRAIN-Center), as well as growing its research efforts for the brain injury and brain-based disorders community (iBRAIN-Institute).

Position Title:

Associate Special Education Director

Position Summary:

This role is a unique dual role in which the candidate is expected to hold both a teaching position and a management training role. This position is intended for teachers who want to transition out of the classroom, while receiving on-the-job training from those in senior leadership.

Salary Range:

$80,000-$95,000 (based on years of experience)

Reports to:

Deputy Director of Special Education

Job Type:

Full time; in person (no remote/hybrid)

Location(s):

New York (Manhattan or Brooklyn; iBRAIN-Academy campus)

Job Description & Responsibilities:

Classroom Duties:

• Oversee a classroom of 6 to 8 school-aged children with brain injuries and/or brain-based disorders.

• Prepare weekly lesson plans that guide implementation of direct instruction daily consisting of 30 minutes per student.

• Utilize a multisensory approach incorporating art, music, and technology to design lessons to increase students' communication, social, and life skills.

• Collaborate with each student's therapy team of occupational therapists, speech therapists, physical therapists, and teachers of the visually impaired to make decisions; implement recommendations from the related service team, as appropriate.

• Prepare and manage daily session notes, Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), quarterly progress reports, and weekly parent updates for each student.

• Collaborate with parents as necessary and involve them in their child's activities and progress on a regular basis (e.g., weekly calls, coordination of home services).

• Provide direction and supervision to the teaching assistants and paraprofessionals in the classroom.

Management Training Duties:

• Work as part of management team to fulfill the organization's mission.

• Facilitate the implementation of professional development programs of iBRAIN educators to ensure adherence to organizational standards of service, policies, and procedures. Foster a mentoring/training mindset to help identify/fill knowledge gaps.

• Support the interviewing, hiring, and retention of competent, qualified staff.

• Assist in ensuring compliance and follow through with directives, policies, and procedures pertaining to education and related documents.

• Support timely reporting of emergent issues or concerns relating to students, policies, procedures or documents to pertinent supervisor.

• Identify online educational resources for teaching staff and lobby for access to them.

• Develop deep understanding of education assessment tools (i.e., Brigance, Bloom's Taxonomy, Depth of Knowledge, etc.)

• Other tasks as assigned.

Baseline Research Duties:

• Prepare and submit IEP reports with media (quarterly).

• Prepare and submit session notes within session (daily).

• Seizure-like event reporting with media (promptly submitted, as applicable to the student).

• Clinical-Educational Grand Rounds (GR) contribution: preparing slides according to provided format, attending GR training meetings (ongoing), attend practice session (as scheduled), giving formal GR presentation (quarterly), and being confident in describing & scoring assessments (semi-annual practicum or quiz).

• Participation in regular iBRAIN Innovation (3 times a year) meetings, as scheduled.

• Help Research Assistant/Paraprofessional fully understand their student's IEP & heighten their ability to formulate in-depth student-specific research questions.

• Complete iBRAIN Research Integrity annual training.

• For Continuing Education (CE), annually identify 3+ knowledge gaps or competency areas, and serve as Primary Subject Matter Expert to develop corresponding CEU modules that are in compliance with iBRAIN's Department accreditation standards through IACET.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Master's degree required

• NYS Childhood Education and Students with Disabilities 1-6, or Early Childhood and Students with Disabilities B-2, or NYS Permanent Special Education Certification

• Seeking candidates with a minimum of 10 years of experience working with students with physical and developmental disabilities

• Must be able to pass ALL of the FREE eLearning Short Courses in Clinical Research from The Global Health Training Centre website (https://globalhealthtrainingcentre.tghn.org/elearning/short-courses/)

• Exceptional interpersonal, problem solving, communication skills, along with the ability to take initiative, and a highly flexible personality type

• MUST HAVE A SENSE OF HUMOR

Benefits:

Health insurance, Dental insurance, Vision insurance, Paid time off

Hours:

Monday through Friday, typically 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

This position adheres to iBRAIN's administrative calendar.

Note: This job description is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, and/or qualifications associated with the position.

Employment with iBRAIN is contingent upon successful completion of any and all post-screening processes, including a reference and background check, and license/certification/degree verifications if/where applicable.

Please send a resume and cover letter to Jobs@ibrainnyc.org unless a specific job description specifies otherwise.