Director of Special Education and Pupil Services - Vacancy ID: 139713

ABOUT CESA 1 Recipient of the Top Workplaces Award for four consecutive years, Cooperative Educational Service Agency (CESA) #1 is all about students. CESAs were created over 50 years ago to support schools, educators, and students. Wisconsin is divided into 12 CESAs, with CESA #1 comprising six counties in southeastern Wisconsin. CESA #1 is home to 30,000 educators and more than 300,000 students. We are a critical partner to schools, providing reliable, just-in-time support. We offer over 100 kinds of services, including professional development, student programming, and staffing. We are proud of our strong history supporting schools and students. RESPONSIBILITIES The Director of Special Education and Pupil Services plans, coordinates, and controls the daily operations of the department. This position has a focus on results-driven accountability, increasing outcomes for students with disabilities, building capacity among special education leadership, and supporting and leading systems change. The Director also: - Serves the role of Regional Special Education Network Director as a point of contact between the WI DPI and LEAs, providing leadership, coaching, and technical assistance in order to advance educational equity for students with disabilities. - Leads program/service development and implementation for a wide range of topics - Provides coaching and consultation to district leaders, school leaders, and staff to build capacity and promote continuous improvement - Uses technical and adaptive change strategies to support best practice at the Agency and in schools throughout the region. - Develops and delivers professional development, as well as provides coaching and consultation. - Applies a deep understanding of effective use of data inquiry processes to improvement planning. - Uses understanding of the College and Career Ready (CCR) IEP Framework when training and coaching district staff. - Develops collaborative relationships that support LEA’s, CESA, and community partners. - Uses a deep understanding of current IDEA legislation and events impacting the broader field of special education to support districts and schools, as well as to ensure that the Agency remains in compliance with state and federal special education law and follows best practice in the care of special education students - Supervises staff, including training, coaching, monitoring, evaluation, and discipline. - Monitors and develops the department’s budget. - Uses an understanding of IDEA flow-through and discretionary grant budgets to apply for and manage grants. QUALIFICATIONS - Master’s Degree from an accredited college or university. - Director of Special Education and Pupil Services licensure (#80) from the Department of Public Instruction. - Five to seven years of experience in Special Education leadership. Special Education and/or Pupil Services Director in a school district preferred. - Strong understanding of Special Education law, including a deep understanding of current IDEA legislation and events impacting the broader field of special education. - Strong planning and organization skills including experience developing staffing patterns and department budgets. - A deep understanding of IDEA flow-through and discretionary grant budgets. - Proven experience successfully implementing change using technical and adaptive change strategies. - Strong coach, using best practice strategies for successful outcomes. - Experienced in the successful use of data inquiry processes. - Demonstrated ability to design and facilitate high quality professional learning opportunities. - Strong relationship builder who has excellent interpersonal skills to facilitate successful interaction with people at all levels of organizations and contexts. - Understands the College and Career Ready (CCR) IEP Framework. - Adapts to changes in the work environment while maintaining focus on priority work. - Demonstrates excellent time-management, problem-prevention, and problem-solving skills. - Demonstrates advanced computer skills, including email, word processing and spreadsheets, including the Google suite of applications. - Possesses a work ethic that includes accountability, integrity, professionalism, punctuality, attention to detail, and accuracy. - Current driver’s license. REPORTS TO Executive Director