TITLE: Head of English Language Learning and Social Studies

About You:

You excel at making connections with people, motivating and inspiring them, building buy-in and engagement, and persuading people to take action to achieve results.

You see the big picture and think and act strategically. You bring an integrated perspective to your work, understanding that strong language acquisition and strong content-area learning reinforce each other.

You have a strong sense of urgency and you thoughtfully weigh multiple options before making decisions.

You enjoy being a key part of a strong, positive and closely-knit team that you can lean on for support, collaboration and share in each other's success. You also have a great sense of fun.

You have the ability to learn quickly and thoroughly while continually recognizing and adapting to changing conditions.

You are a natural advocate for English language learners - and you bring both precision and urgency to the compliance systems and instructional structures that serve them.

You have a sincere appreciation for people and how they are each uniquely motivated, including a deep understanding of how to engage families and communities from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds.

About the Role:

Why the role exists:

The Head of English Language Learning and Social Studies owns two of the district's most strategically connected program areas. ELL serves one of the district's largest and most diverse student populations - and with over 50 languages spoken across 21 schools, ELL compliance is federal and state law that requires expert, daily ownership. Social Studies is the discipline most naturally suited to developing academic language, critical thinking, and civic literacy across all grade levels. Both require students to engage with complex text, build academic language through structured discourse, and construct meaning from evidence - making this a coherent and integrated portfolio.

Working under the direction of the Director of Academic and Instructional Programs, this role owns K-8 ELL program leadership and compliance, K-8 Social Studies curriculum and instructional leadership, and the direct supervision of ELL Compliance Specialists.

This role commits a minimum of 60% of the workday to schools - visiting ELL classrooms, observing social studies instruction, coaching site leaders and teachers, monitoring program implementation, and maintaining the school-level presence necessary to understand and respond to the needs of the district's English language learners and social studies students.

This is a rare opportunity for an individual to step in and be a part of transforming an organization's outcomes and student learning environments.

It also represents a chance for this person to be part of the leadership team of the organization, and enjoy significant personal and professional growth along the way.

Responsibilities & Deliverables:

The Head of English Language Learning and Social Studies is held accountable for three outcomes. Each outcome is a direct contribution to the Director of Academic and Instructional Programs' accountabilities, which in turn support the Chief Leadership and Learning Officer's (CLO) districtwide outcomes. This role owns the ELL and Social Studies lane of each outcome - ensuring that English language learners receive instruction and services that are legally sound and producing measurable language acquisition, and that every Tempe Elementary student engages with a rigorous, coherent, and academically language-rich social studies program.

Outcome 1: Execution of the Superintendent's Instructional Vision - ELL and Social Studies

The Head of English Language Learning and Social Studies is accountable for ensuring the Superintendent's instructional vision is implemented with fidelity in every ELL setting and every social studies classroom across all 21 schools. In ELL, compliance is required and instructional excellence is the goal. In social studies, coherent vertical alignment from K through 8 is expected.

1. Ensure all ELL programs are implemented in full alignment with approved SEI models, with documented evidence that the correct model variation is in place at each school based on the placement and proficiency levels of enrolled English language learners - updated and verified on a defined annual cycle.
2. Develop, monitor, and continuously improve K-8 Social Studies curriculum - ensuring full alignment to Arizona Social Studies Standards and current best practices in disciplinary literacy, civic education, and inquiry-based learning at every grade level.
3. Ensure that social studies instruction across all 21 schools treats the discipline as a vehicle for academic language development - building the reading, writing, discussion, and evidence-based reasoning skills that transfer across all content areas, particularly for English language learners.
4. Ensure that classroom materials, instructional resources, and teaching practices in both ELL and social studies settings are current, evidence-based, and implemented consistently across all schools.
5. Identify and close gaps between the Superintendent's instructional vision and current ELL and social studies practice - developing targeted action plans with timelines, owners, and measurable milestones, and reporting progress to the Director of Academic and Instructional Programs on a defined cadence.

Outcome 2: Principal Development - ELL and Social Studies

The Head of English Language Learning and Social Studies is accountable for ensuring that principals and their instructional leadership teams have the knowledge, tools, and compliance grounding necessary to lead ELL programs effectively and to champion rigorous social studies instruction in their buildings. A principal who understands SEI compliance and sees social studies as a vehicle for language and thinking development is a more powerful instructional leader for every student in their school.

1. Deliver a measurable, districtwide professional learning plan for principals, instructional coaches, and teachers on ELL instructional strategies, SEI model implementation, ILLP development, and social studies disciplinary literacy - updated annually based on compliance requirements, achievement data, and observed practice gaps.
2. Provide each principal with timely, specific coaching and guidance on ELL compliance obligations - including 4-hour ELD time allocation requirements, ILLP documentation, student grouping by proficiency level, and the correct administration of the state language acquisition test - ensuring no school is at compliance risk.
3. Coach principals and teachers on social studies instructional leadership - building their capacity to observe rigorous social studies instruction, provide meaningful feedback to teachers, and connect social studies practice to the academic language development needs of their student population, including English language learners.
4. Ensure ELL Compliance Specialists serve as genuine instructional and compliance partners to principals and teachers - with defined school visit schedules, documented coaching conversations, and measurable follow-through on identified areas of need.
5. Facilitate regular convenings of ELL teachers and social studies teachers across the district - building professional community, sharing practice, and maintaining coherence and alignment across all 21 schools.
6. Identify principals and site teams who need additional targeted support in ELL or social studies leadership and develop intervention plans in collaboration with the Director of Academic and Instructional Programs.

Outcome 3: Student Achievement - ELL and Social Studies

The Head of English Language Learning and Social Studies is accountable for measurable outcomes for English language learners and for all students in social studies across all 21 schools. ELL compliance is required by state and federal law and student language acquisition data is the measure of program effectiveness. Social studies student outcomes - particularly in disciplinary literacy, academic language, and civic reasoning - demonstrate whether the program is delivering on its purpose.

1. Own and monitor ELL student achievement data - including language acquisition test results, reclassification rates, ELD progress monitoring, and academic achievement on state assessments - disaggregated by school, grade level, and proficiency level, and reported to the Director of Academic and Instructional Programs on a defined cadence with diagnosis and recommended action.
2. Manage and execute all ELL compliance obligations with documented accuracy and on-time delivery: student entry and exit based on state language acquisition testing, 4-hour ELD time allocation monitoring, ILLP development and maintenance for every eligible student, SEI model implementation verification across all schools, and all required state and federal program reports and audits.
3. Own and monitor K-8 Social Studies student outcome data - including assessment results, disciplinary literacy measures, and participation in civic and inquiry-based learning experiences - using this data to assess program effectiveness and identify schools and grade levels where additional support is needed.
4. Ensure strong vertical alignment in the K-8 social studies program so that 8th grade students arrive at high school with the academic language, disciplinary reasoning, and content knowledge to succeed in a more demanding social studies environment.
5. Ensure equitable access to high-quality ELL services and social studies instruction across all schools - with disaggregated data reviewed regularly to identify and close participation and achievement gaps for English language learners, multilingual students, and historically underserved populations.
6. Coordinate home-school communication across language barriers - overseeing ELL Compliance Specialists to ensure that families of ELL students receive timely, accurate, and culturally responsive communication about their children's language acquisition progress, program placement, and rights under state and federal law.
7. Provide the Director of Academic and Instructional Programs with a clear, data-grounded account of ELL student outcomes, compliance status, and social studies program progress each semester - including what is working, what is not, and what actions are being taken in response.

Who We're Looking For:

Minimum Qualifications:

1. State of Arizona administrative certification. Applicants must have on file in the Human Resources Department a copy of the appropriate valid certificate or evidence of eligibility to be appropriately certified by the Arizona Department of Education.
2. Bilingual or ESL Endorsement required.
3. A minimum of five (5) years of administrative and/or management experience.
4. A minimum of five (5) years of teaching experience, with direct experience in ELL settings.
5. Demonstrated knowledge of Arizona SEI models, ELL compliance procedures, and state and federal ELL program requirements, including ILLP management, language acquisition testing, and ADE reporting.
6. Demonstrated knowledge of Social Studies curriculum, Arizona Social Studies Standards, and disciplinary literacy instructional practices at the K-8 level.
7. Experience leading professional development and instructional coaching for teachers and school leaders.
8. Ability to successfully implement organizational change.
9. The ability to make big ideas and complex concepts simple, easy to understand and compelling.
10. Excellent organizational, written, communication and problem-solving/creative thinking skills.
11. Experience working with families and communities from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds.
12. Performs other duties/tasks as assigned by the Director of Academic and Instructional Programs.

Preferred Attributes:

• Knowledge of inquiry-based and disciplinary literacy frameworks and their application in social studies at the middle school level.
• Experience building vertical alignment between K-8 and high school social studies expectations.
• Bilingual proficiency in Spanish or another language spoken by a significant portion of TD3's student population.
• Experience with civic education programs, inquiry-based social studies instruction, and primary source-based learning.
• Familiarity with MTSS frameworks and the role of ELL services within tiered support systems.
• Experience with data systems to monitor ELL program access, compliance status, and student outcomes.
• Knowledge of multicultural education and demonstrated ability to build trust with diverse community stakeholders.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

(Essential functions, as defined under the Americans with Disabilities Act, may include any of the following tasks, knowledge, skills, and other characteristics. This list is ILLUSTRATIVE ONLY, and is not a comprehensive listing of all duties and responsibilities performed by the incumbents of this class.)

DEPARTMENT: Student Success Enterprise

SALARY: Administrative

WORK YEAR: 12 months

REPORTS TO: Director of Academic and Instructional Programs

EVALUATION: Administr