Senior Reading Director

Education Development Center (EDC) is a global nonprofit that advances lasting solutions to improve education, promote health, and expand economic opportunity. Since 1958, we have been a leader in designing, implementing, and evaluating powerful and innovative programs in more than 80 countries around the world.

EDC promotes equity and access to high quality education and health services and products that contribute to thriving communities where people from diverse backgrounds learn, live, and work together. We support an inclusive workplace culture that embraces many perspectives and broadens our understanding of the communities we serve, enhancing and enriching our work.

The USAID Let’s Read Project is a 5-year, $48.9 million project in the five target provinces of Eastern, Muchinga, Southern, Northwestern and Western Zambia that works to improve reading outcomes for approximately 1.4 million children attending pre-primary (kindergarten) through to Grade 3 and provide professional development for teachers to support reading interventions in Zambian public and community schools

Position Description

The Senior Reading Director (SRD) will provide overall technical leadership for support to the Primary Literacy Programme (PLP) and guidance for the project’s support to improved reading instruction – including materials development with a focus on integrating gender and special education approaches, teacher professional development, teacher and classroom supervision and monitoring, and all student testing efforts.   Additionally, the SRD will ensure complementarity of activity approaches in reading across project regions and will collaborate closely with Ministry of General Education (MoGE) officials in both Teacher Education and Specialized Services (TESS) and the Curriculum Development Centre (CDC), as well as the project’s Training Specialist and Performance Tracking System (PTS) Manager.

Functional Responsibilities

• Provide overall technical oversight and guidance to program work related to improving instruction on early grade reading, improving delivery systems for better early grade reading instruction, and increasing family and community engagement in early grade reading;


• Guide program staff on essential components of reading programs, including curriculum design, lesson planning, instructional approach, teacher professional development, materials development and distribution, classroom-level assessment, and large-scale assessment, to develop and integrate highly effective activities for maximum effectiveness at the program level;


• Engage with actors across the education system to optimize use of available resources with specific attention to school and classroom management practice, including quality assurance, supportive supervision, and coaching leading to improvement in learning outcomes at the primary-school level;


• Partner with Zambian Ministry of General Education personnel in the appraisal of PLP support efforts and the adaptation of PLP implementation as needed based on evidence;


• Manage technical staff working on print and digital materials development, training and coaching, and community reading support;


• Ensure the quality of teaching and learning materials and training and coaching resources


• Coordinate teacher and student assessment and evaluation efforts with the project’s Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning team;


• Contribute to the design and implementation of the project’s learning agenda;


• Support other project specialists to ensure coherent design and implementation;


• Work with home office experts and local partners to ensure program relevance and quality; and


• Other duties, as assigned.

Reporting and Organizational Relationships:

The Senior Reading Director reports to the Chief of Party.

The candidate for the position of Senior Reading Director shall have at a minimum the following qualifications:

Education:

Master’s degree (or equivalent experience) in education or a related field, preferably with a specialty in early grade reading.

Skills and Experience:

• At least 8 years of progressively responsible and directly relevant experience (including at least 5 years’ experience working as a reading specialist, or in similar capacity);


• Understanding of the evidence base for early grade reading instruction and of Zambia’s Primary Literacy Programme (PLP);


• Demonstrated expertise within the education sector in Zambia, including:

• Familiarity with best practices in early grade reading assessment;
• Understanding of and experience working with or within the Zambian Ministry of General Education;
• Understanding of and experience working with or within Zambian community schools;
• Knowledge of the Zambian publishing and media sectors and of local resources for materials design and production;
• Leadership experience in an internationally-supported education program; and
• Proven ability to coordinate and manage teams of diverse professionals.

Language:

Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of (and proficiency in) Chinyanja, Chitonga, Silozi, Lunda, Luvale, Kiikaonde and Icibemba languages highly preferred.