Partner, Computer Science Focus

PARTNER, SCHOOL DESIGN SERVICES: Computer Science Focus

Start Date: Immediate

Role Type: Full time

Title: Partner, School Design Services

Location: Flexible; with frequent travel to Central Texas in the upcoming academic year

Open Roles: Multiple: currently hiring to fill multiple Partner positions, for various projects 

Travel: ~35-40% time. Willingness to travel approximately twice monthly for coaching and supporting schools.

Who We Are:

Transcend’s mission is to support communities to create and spread extraordinary, equitable learning environments. Founded in 2015, Transcend has partnered with over 200 schools and 50 systems which collectively serve nearly 500,000 students in 30 states across the country. As a research and development (R&D) hub for the education field, Transcend provides schools and systems with research-backed, community-driven models and capacity so they can make significant leaps to reimagine the future of education. Transcend is a nonprofit that operates with a fully remote, nationwide team; currently with 85 teammates and growing.

For more information, visit our website; follow us on LinkedIn or Twitter, check out this podcast featuring our two co-founders on Class Disrupted, or read this article that illuminates the need for this work.

The Opportunity:

In increasingly large numbers, communities across the nation are recognizing the limitations and profound inequities of the 100+ year-old, one-size-fits-all industrial design of school. The compounding crises of the past couple of years have revealed the need for reinvention toward extraordinary, equitable learning environments that enable all young people to thrive. As a result, Transcend is partnering with more and more communities to support their work to redesign schools.

The Partner, School Design Services role will guide school design teams, in partnership with their learning communities, to design, build, and spread innovative school models. Specifically, Partners on our School Design Services team coach and support school design teams to:

1. Reimagine and create new school model designs grounded in their unique community’s context and aspirations.
2. Build the conditions for innovation in their school communities (including the capacity to do ongoing, applied R&D in their context).
3. Help create the networks and partnerships schools need for their innovation efforts to take root and thrive.

Working in portfolio teams, Partners use various methods to achieve these aims, including facilitation of in-person and virtual workshops, 1:1 coaching (virtual and in-person), hands-on instructional and new model design work, resource creation and sharing, and forging connections to support the work.

Across all projects, partners will support schools to:

1. Facilitate schools’ “Design Journeys” to articulate their unique community-driven purpose and vision, and new school designs in service of that vision
2. Run pilots to learn and iterate on their new model designs
3. Identify and implement new student experiences aligned with the schools’ vision
4. Strengthen the conditions needed for innovation and enduring, transformative change
5. Codify and spread effective, innovative school models and model components

New Partners will likely work on projects within their home-based Portfolio for the first one to two years (if not more).

We are specifically looking for a Partner with experience in designing and leading innovative and effective models in Computer Science and Computational Thinking for K-12 learners. We have a specific project focused in this area for the upcoming academic year; and anticipate we will continue to have work that will draw on this expertise thereafter.

The Computer-Science Focused Project for the 2022 - 2023 School Year:

We are currently supporting 5 school systems in Texas to develop comprehensive K-12 computer science and computational thinking pathways that reach more students and prepare them for the 21st century. We know that computer science and computational thinking skills are important for careers in those fields and also for problem-solving in any field, financial literacy, online safety, and more. Furthermore, the reality that students of color and women are not equitably represented in these fields demonstrates the urgent need for reinvention. In this project, we are working with charter and district systems that already have basic computer science offerings and seek to design and implement full K-12 computer science pathways to increase the number and diversity of Central Texans qualified for these opportunities and position these schools as exemplar models.

For our computer science and computational thinking cohort, the Partner, School Design CS Focus will customize Transcend’s strategies and methods to build products and applications in these domains. These activities help school design teams to:

1. Envision and build K-12 computer science and computational thinking pathways where all students have the opportunity to learn in an engaging, rigorous, comprehensive, and personally and culturally relevant program.
2. Leverage relationships with school and district leaders to advocate for larger school model shifts necessary to implement the vision like schedule adjustments, staffing structure shifts, making time for professional development, etc.
3. Research and curate curricula, training, and tools that can be used to support the design and implementation of computer science and computational thinking pathways.
4. In close partnership with schools, pilot new practices to test efficacy and inform implementation of new practices and build conviction about the impact high-quality computer science and computational thinking can have.

Who You Are:

You have deep expertise in and passion for Computer Science education! You are also a facilitator, instructional designer, and coach who believes deeply that we must redesign school as we know it, to truly achieve the outcomes we know all students deserve, and to prepare young people to thrive now and into the future. You are relationship-driven in your work and energized by coaching others to achieve excellent outcomes for students. You are able to build relationships quickly and thoughtfully and recognize the importance of elevating a whole community’s voice in the redesign process. You are excited about partnering with school and community stakeholders to bring ambitious new school designs to life.

In this role, you will get to:

• Coach: Advance the school team’s conditions for change, and build capacity in others to bring new school designs to life
• Create Content: Develop the teams’ capacity to design and build school schedules, curriculum, instructional practices, PD, etc., in alignment with their school blueprints, research, and best practice
• Facilitate rigorous research and development (R&D): Help teams pilot their innovations throughout the year: from setting up effective pilot structures, implementing pilots, and summarizing their learning to inform their overall design and next steps
• Lead Strategic Implementation of New School Designs: Guide and support schools in building and adapting the school elements needed to bring their designs to life
• Apply your Computer Science expertise: As the first person on the Transcend team with significant computer science experience, you will help define and envision transformative school models that develop essential computer science and computational thinking skills, and serve as Transcend’s resident expert in this domain. Relevant previous experience could include:
  • Being a computer science teacher (or similar STEM subjects like engineering, data science, etc.)
  • Working with computer science skills in schools, districts, education, and education technology companies, education nonprofits, etc.
  • Studying computer science in college, at a boot camp, or on your own and also working in an educational setting where it may or may not have been leveraged

And in doing so, leverage your:

• Expertise in and passion for Computer Science
• Commitment to Transcend’s mission of transforming education, with a passion for creating innovative school models that generate unprecedented results for all students
• Strong and demonstrated commitment to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion. You design, coach, and facilitate with an equity lens
• Skillful relationship building and communication skills, working with a diverse range of stakeholders, including school partners, teammates, funders, research partners, etc
• Stewardship of a healthy team culture, and eagerness to share and learn from your teammates
• Eagerness to live into Transcend’s core values and support others to do the same
• Significant experience leading in schools, preferably with experience working as a former school Principal, and with direct experience with design, innovation, 21st-century skills, change management and/or “next generation” school models
• Entrepreneurial hunger to build, learn, and lead in a lean and at times ambiguous context

Perks and Benefits:

Transcend is committed to providing our colleagues with a competitive benefits package. Transcend offers medical, dental and vision coverage options, org-wide holidays, paid time off, paid parental leave, professional development opportunities, and fully remote work. We're also proud of our values-grounded, equity-focused, and fun (!) work environment, incredible colleagues, and a dedication to our purposeful work and to one another.

Join Us!

Transcend is an equal opportunity employer. We are building a diverse team, and we encourage candidates from historically under-represented groups to apply.