Exalt Hiring for Adjunct Teacher at New York, NY Full Time

Updated: 12/12/22 – 2 Job Openings

About exalt

exalt is seeking a dynamic, passionate educator to join our team. exalt’s mission is to transform the lives of court-involved youth by equipping them with the skills and experience they need to be self-sufficient members of society. We fulfill this mission by providing a cohesive, cohort-based educational internship program with four components: 1) a proprietary curriculum based classroom component 2) paid internships in youths’ fields of interest; 3) post-internship education and career development services; and 4) an alumni network that provides ongoing access to resources. exalt partners with criminal justice agencies and schools to serve 525 court-involved youth, ages 15-19, annually.

Job Summary

The Adjunct Teacher is an exciting remote job opportunity within exalt. The Teacher will teach a pre-internship preparation class, which utilizes a curriculum linking employability skills, educational engagement and avoidance of justice system involvement to a set of four broad skills: critical thinking, communication, creative problem-solving and “resource management.” Essential to our curriculum is the application of a Friere- inspired critical pedagogical approach which validates and builds on participants’ experiences, cultures, skills and interests while building discipline and accountability –inspiring and enabling them to internalize the four core skills we focus on, and apply them to decision making regarding interactions in school, on the streets with peers or police, or in professional environments that hold potential opportunities for them.

The individual in this role will teach and lead 2-4 class cycles per year as available and requested by exalt. Each cycle consists of the following components:

Classes are comprised of 17-25 youth, ages 15-19. Adjunct Teachers will lead virtual classes each day from 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm. Adjunct Teachers must arrive no later than 3:50 pm and stay after class from 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm for 1-on-1 follow-up and debrief, as needed.

Responsibilities:

• Teach and manage class cycles as requested/assigned by exalt

• Humanize, motivate, validate and inspire court-involved youth, many of whom are typically resistant to traditional educational settings
• Gauge individual student learning styles, challenges and strengths and tailor instruction to maximize student engagement and comprehension
• Link all virtual classroom discussion and instruction to exalt’s long term goals for students: increased investment and persistence in school, employability, and sustained avoidance of further justice system involvement
• Conduct phone and virtual outreach to participants on a regular basis via phone, email and in person to monitor and assess ongoing progress and needs, particularly in terms of education, criminal justice system avoidance, and employability
• Devise strategies to address the diverse needs of students at risk of program incompletion

• Enter student attendance data at least 1x per week in Salesforce
• Conduct all four core-skill pre and post assessments on schedule and ensure they are entered in Salesforce
• Enter weekly progress notes assessing developmental progress and setbacks of students in Salesforce
• Communicate at least 1x per week with PC and exalt staff to share students’ obstacles, assets and opportunities and incorporate information into class instruction through email and meetings
• Support students with educational goals including but not limited to academic progression, school enrollment, school transfers, and individualized progress plans

• Support participants with employability goals including but not limited to improving in our four core-skills areas, completing the Pre-Internship Training Phase, and succeeding during the Internship component
• Prepare court letters and provide updates at court appearances for students as needed
• Support participants with criminal justice avoidance goals including but not limited to preparing for and attending court appearances, avoiding new arrests, and/or maintaining probation appointments
• Communicate accurate and clear information around attendance and engagement to courts via Director of Court Partnerships and Strategy and/or Court Liaisons

Competencies:

• Classroom management: Demonstrated ability to manage a classroom of high school aged youth typically resistant to educational settings. Balance clear structure, accountability, and discipline with engaging teaching style to facilitate high participation and interest from students.
• Adaptability: Able to adapt quickly to new information and unexpected obstacles, and approach change positively. Able to adapt exalt’s curriculum to the specific needs, learning styles and personalities of each cohort of students.
• Applied learning: Able to learn and apply new position-related information quickly. For example, all exalt youth interface with the juvenile or criminal (adult) justice systems. The Adjunct Teacher must become familiar with these systems to understand their role in students’ lives and meaning in curriculum.
• Cultural competence: Have strong familiarity with and understanding of exalt students’ histories, cultures and the socio-economic and political factors which have shaped them and can use culturally relevant and contextualized lessons and teaching methods in class. Classes are typically comprised of 80% Black American and Caribbean youth and 20% Latino youth.

• Communication: Clearly and effectively convey and receive information and ideas to/from students and colleagues through a variety of media. Demonstrate strong written, oral, and listening skills.
• Creativity: Able to use the arts and technology to create an engaging learning environment that encourages creative thinking and expression.
• Planning and organizing: Organize work, set priorities, determine resource requirements, and seek input and support from supervisors/colleagues; determine necessary sequence of activities needed to achieve goals.
• Stress tolerance: exalt students face a plethora of obstacles in their lives and often have pending court requirements that put their freedom in jeopardy. Staff must be able to make challenging decisions (e.g., potentially releasing a student from the program who cannot meet standards despite program flexibility) and balance the emotional aspects of working with young people facing severe challenges.

Performance Measures:

• Students’ progress in classroom engagement and participation as measured through Likert scales, attendance, adherence to program contract obligations, and progress notes
• Students’ progress in comprehension, internalization and application of exalt’s four core skills and additional curriculum content as measured through pre- and post-program assessments
• Enroll 15-20 students per cohort or “cycle” led
• Retention of at least 75% of enrolled students in each class through entire 4-week pre-internship classroom session, and 60-65% full program completion
• Entry of all relevant education, employment, and criminal justice information in salesforce database in a timely manner

• 98% completion rate for progress weekly and bi-weekly progress note updates
• When possible, attendance at court for participants with open cases
• Production at least 3 days in advance of formal court letter documents to be reviewed and approved by the Director for Court Partnerships and Strategy

Qualifications:

• Availability between during virtual class time for all phases of virtual engagement, as well as select mornings and weekends to support with court needs as well as development of “internship projects” for each individual participant.
• Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent level of training + teaching experience with system-involved youth required. Master’s or Advanced Degree preferred.
• Minimum of 3 years teaching experience in high school, non-profit or similar alternative educational program.
• Bilingual, Spanish-speaking a plus.

Time Commitment and Compensation:

This is a primarily remote position. The Adjunct Teacher will facilitate 2-4 program cycles per year and receive $6,000 per cycle taught. The expected workload is 18 hours per week on average for 11 weeks per cycle.

The Adjunct Teacher must check in with the Curriculum and Pedagogy Manager, Ife Adeniyi, at least 1x per week and attend 2 program team meetings as scheduled. Additionally, over the course of each cycle, the Adjunct Teacher must attend approximately 6 teacher meetings. Teacher meetings are every 2 weeks on Wednesdays from 2:00-3:00 pm.

exalt is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status, or any other protected class under Federal, State and Local law.