About this role
Reading Specialist-Middle School Department: Special Education FLSA Status (Exempt/Non-exempt): Unit A Reports to: Special Education Department Head/Principal SUMMARY: The Reading Specialist provides direct reading service to students with reading disabilities, including students with language-based learning disabilities, to develop strong reading & writing skills in accordance with IEP goal areas and benchmarks. This specialist also engages in the special education process including IEP meetings and service reccomendations. Qualifications: REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS: -Valid Massachusetts Special Education/Moderate Special Needs teaching license required -Orton-Gillingham, Wilson, and/ or LindaMood Bell Certification required. -Reading Specialist license preferred -Masters Degree -Experience teaching and assessing reading skills -Ability to handle multitude of varying and complex literacy issues -Excellent oral and written communication skills -Computer experience DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS: -Familiarity and experience with various encoding and decoding literacy instructional methodologies -Familiarity with language-based instructional methodologies -Familiarity and experience with the administration of reading assessments, analysis of data from assessments, and ability to write comprehensive educational evaluation reports from assessment data. -Familiarity with progress monitoring methods and utilization of data to drive intervention -Familiarity and experience with individual and small group instruction & intervention in reading and writing Essential Job Duties and Responsibilities (Not Limited To): -Provide direct instruction and intervention to struggling readers for encoding/ decoding, reading comprehension and reading fluency -Work cooperatively and collaboratively with other professionals and service providers in planning instruction to meet Page 1 of 3 the needs of diverse learners -Comprehensive knowledge of reading and language-based disabilities and evidenced based interventions for supporting students with varying reading and language-based disabilities -Knowledge of specialized instructional techniques for supporting the written expression work of struggling readers -Provide and support formal and informal literacy assessment and data analysis for progress monitoring and reporting purposes -Ability to provide case management to students on caseload including running team meetings and developing individualized educational programs -Consistent, reliable and punctual attendance is essential for supervision and instruction of the students -Responsible for implementing “other job related duties” as needed.