Lead Teacher

Job Description Summary: Performs duties leading teaching staff with planning, coaching and implementing educational activities for 3 to 5 year old in the Child Development Program that comply with state early learning standards and federal performance standards from OHS. Assumes various regular and /or delegated tasks specifically in the area of education. Take the lead in helping the entire classroom team implement Creative Curriculum and TS Gold in alignment with Illinois Early Learning Standards to guide learning.

Reporting Relationship:

Reports To: Site Director

Child Development & Youth Services Core Competencies:

• Adaptable: Adjust to new conditions, changes, challenges, and experiences.

• Communicator: Is understood by others (both verbally and in writing) and understands the ideas and perspectives of others.

• Uses a Growth Mindset: Embraces their potential to learn and grow and views successes and failures as development opportunities.

• Has Integrity: Honesty, trustworthiness, ownership, accountability, and respect are hallmarks of integrity.

• Collaborator: Cooperates and works well with peers, colleagues and team members by giving and receiving ideas, comments, and feedback with an open mind.

Essential Responsibilities & Duties:

• Obtain written parental consent to screen the child.
• Conduct developmental screenings to identify any issues or concerns that may limit learning and address them as soon as possible.
• Ages and Stages Questionnaire Developmental Screening (ASQ) for children in the Early Head Start Program (0-3 years old).
• Early Screening Inventory-Revised (ESI-R) Developmental screening for children in the Head Start Program (3-5 years old).

• Administer screenings in the child’s native language.
• Ensure parents complete the social emotional screening for their child.
• Ages and Stages Questionnaire-Social/Emotional (ASQ-SE) for children in both Head Start and Early Head Start (0-5 years old).

• Complete Developmental and Social Emotional screenings on all enrolled children, within 45 days from the child’s first day of attendance in the program.
• Share information from screenings with parents during home visits and the parent/teacher conference.
• Assist families with locating services as a result of screening information, when needed.

• Have no more than 17 children in class during each session. Classrooms will be staffed with one Lead Teacher, one Assistant Teacher, and a PEL teacher.

Classroom Hours

• Provide classroom instruction for at least 7 hours for full day programming, five days per week.

Curriculum

• Work with the classroom team to fully implement the Creative Curriculum using high-quality teaching strategies (through Teaching Strategies Gold) and ongoing individualization. This includes helping children who are Dual Language Learners develop in all areas, while also increasing their abilities in English.
• Creative Curriculum for Infants, Toddlers and Two’s for children birth through 60 months
• Creative Curriculum for Preschool to five-year-olds
• Model excellent teaching practices. Work with children in large groups, small groups, and individually to ensure that their instructional needs are being met.
• Develop weekly lesson plans using the Creative Curriculum.

• Use planning time to discuss child assessment results and develop individualized instruction plans. Modify lesson plans to meet individual children’s needs.

Home Visits

• Conduct two home visits during the school year (1 spring, 1 fall) on each child in the class.
• Use home visits as an opportunity to discuss the child’s progress, results of developmental screenings, and desired goals for the child.
• Observations/Assessments/Documenting Children’s Progress
• Provide thoughtful observation and intentional planning.
• Complete regular assessments of each child’s learning and development.
• Maintain a portfolio of children’s work that will be shared with parents and kindergarten teachers during transition from Head Start to kindergarten.
• School Readiness
• Complete Teaching Strategies Gold Checkpoints quarterly to assess each child’s progress on school readiness.
• Share information on children’s progress toward the school-readiness goals with parents, by sharing highlights of the assessments during home visits and parent-teacher conferences.
• Inclusion
• Support children’s learning through environments and experiences that are developmentally appropriate, individually and culturally meaningful and inclusive of children with disabilities.
• Include children with disabilities and challenges so they may attain goals specified in the IFSP/IEP.
• Nutrition
• Include one nutrition lesson weekly in all lesson plans as required in the Performance Standards. *Not for Early Head Start classrooms
• Ensure all meals are served Family Style. Both staff and volunteers will participate in the mealtime experience with the children. *Not for Early Head Start classrooms

Health and Safety

• Prioritize health and safety of children in the program.
• Ensure classroom equipment, furniture, materials, and supplies are properly maintained and stored.
• Include lessons on Health and Safety in lesson plans.
• Lessons will include eating healthy; handwashing; tooth brushing; Pedestrian Safety and Safety Drills
• Follow procedures for notifying parents in the event of an emergency involving their child.
• Post emergency evacuation routes and other safety procedures for emergencies (e.g., fire or weather-related) which are practiced regularly.
• Post policies and plans of action for emergencies that require rapid response on the part of staff (e.g., a child choking) or immediate medical or dental attention.
• Post locations and telephone numbers of emergency response systems. Up-to-date family contact information and authorization for emergency care for each child must be readily available.
• Adhere to the procedures for Mandated Reporters to report cases of suspected or known child abuse and neglect.
• Foster safety awareness among children and parents by incorporating it into child and parent activities.
• Hand washing- staff, volunteers, and children must wash their hands with soap and running water at least at the following times:

• After diapering or toilet use.
• Before food preparation, handling, consumption, or any other food-related activity (e.g., setting the table);
• Whenever hands are contaminated with blood or other bodily fluids.
• After handling pets or other animals.
• Before and after giving medications.
• Before and after treating or bandaging a wound (nonporous gloves should be worn if there is contact with blood or blood-containing body fluids);
• After assisting a child with toilet use.
• After returning indoors from outdoor activities.
• Tooth Brushing
• Establish healthy oral habits in the classroom with daily tooth brushing after each meal.
• Replace the toothbrushes provided to all enrolled children by the grantee every 3 months.
• Conduct safety checks of the classroom and outdoor environments on a daily basis prior to student’s arrival and in between each session.

Requirements:

• Position requires a minimum of a bachelor’s degree (master’s degree, preferred) in Early Childhood Education, Child Development or related field.

• A level 5 certification in ECE from INCCRRA.

• A minimum of 5 years teaching experience in an early childhood education classroom

• Must have up-to-date Interrater Reliability Certification for Teaching Strategies
• 3 years of coaching experience in an early childhood education classroom, preferred.
• Training and experience with CLASS assessment of quality teacher-child interactions, and scoring
• Working knowledge of early childhood environmental rating scales
• Working knowledge of developmentally appropriate practices for preschool education
• Working knowledge of current educational techniques and practices relating to preschool-age development
• Working knowledge of The Creative Curriculum and Teaching Strategies GOLD
• Understanding of lesson planning, assessing and individualizing for preschool aged children
• Ability to use a computer and related software.
• Ability to administer CPR and First Aid and implement safety procedures.

Mental/Physical Demands:

Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form. The employee is required to stand, walk, engage, and lift children. The employee must be able to frequently lift and/or move up to 10 pounds and occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus.

Environmental Conditions:

The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate. Duties are performed in either an office or classroom environment. Duties require outside work or responsibilities at other locations. No unusual or adverse working conditions exist.

This description documents the general contents and requirements of the job. It is not to be construed as an exhaustive statement of duties, responsibilities, or requirements. The principal duties and responsibilities shown are all essential job functions. The requirements listed above are representative of the knowledge, skill and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.