Senior Reading Specialist

SENIOR READING SPECIALIST, NEPAL

RTI's International Education Division is supporting education development around the world by strengthening education policy, management and practice in order to achieve measurable improvement in teaching and learning. From our well-established reputation in education system strengthening, to innovative work in early grade assessment and learning, RTI is improving education quality, relevance and efficiency through implementation of projects funded by USAID, DFID, Australian Aid and other donors and clients.

The International Education Division is currently accepting applications for Senior Reading Specialist for an anticipated USAID-funded five-year project to improve early grade reading in Nepal. This is a full-time position with residency in Nepal.

The Senior Reading Specialistwill provide overall technical oversight and guidance for the project’s three Intermediate Results:Improved Early Grade Reading Instruction, Improved National and District Early Grade Reading Service Delivery and Increased Family and Community Support for Early Grade Reading.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Provides guidance to 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 highly effective activities in these areas and to integrate them for maximum effectiveness at the program level.
• Leads analysis of the factors in developing countries that affect teacher preparation and professional development to produce highly effective programs, with success measured by impact on student learning outcomes.
• Supports development of programs for teachers and teacher candidates with widely varying levels of literacy and content knowledge and for systems with widely varying capacity to support teachers outside of training.
• Contributes to the design and implementation of effective teacher professional development programs including teacher preparation, induction and in-service programs, and supportive supervision focused on primary grade reading, curriculum design and materials development for early grade reading. 
• Provides support for design of effective curriculum, lesson planning, instructional approaches and materials for varied language settings. 
• Assists Ministry of Education personnel in the analysis and appraisal of curriculum reform efforts and materials development and production. 
• Supports other specialists on the team to ensure coherent program design.
• Contributes knowledge of effective school researchfindings and practices that are applicable to developing country contexts. 
• Engages witheducation systems to focus on optimal use of available resources with specific attention to schooland classroom management practices including quality assurance, supportive supervision, andcoaching leading to improvement in learning outcomes at the primary school level.
• Supervises the production of all project-supported materials and trainings in reading, teacher and classroom supervision and monitoring, and all student testing efforts.
• Ensures complementarity of program approaches in reading across the Target districts, liaises with government representatives and technicians on technical matters, and bears ultimate responsibility for ensuring that children in project-supported schools achieve improved outcomes in reading. 
• Works directly with language experts in Nepali, Awadhi, Tharu, and Maithili and other languages as appropriate to implement this program. 

Required Skills and Qualifications:

• Master’s degree with a specialty in early grade reading. Ph.D. in education with a focus on curriculum development, reading instruction, and/or early grade reading is preferred.
• At least 10 years of experience in technical direction of international programs that work specifically to improve early grade reading. 
• Prior experience with the development of early grade reading materials, training programs, classroom monitoring protocols, and tests and assessments, including EGRA.
• Prior experience working with communities to support improved reading is preferred.
• Professional proficiency and fluency in written and spoken English. 
• Proficiency in Nepali is preferred, but not required.

To Apply: Qualified candidates are invited to apply at www.rti.org/job15694.

Candidates are encouraged to apply as soon as possible. Only short listed applicants will be contacted. RTI is proud to be an EEO/AA employer M/F/D/V.