The Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) is the State Education Agency for the District of Columbia charged with raising the quality of education for all DC residents. OSSE is focused on sustaining, accelerating, and deepening the progress being made for the District’s 90,000+ students. OSSE serves as the District’s liaison to the U.S. Department of Education and works closely with the District’s 470+ early childhood facilities, 250+ schools, 60+ local education agencies (including DCPS and charter organizations), and community-based organizations to provide critical programming and resources to our stakeholders.  

Educators are the single most important in-school factor impacting student learning and lives. The state education agency plays a critically important role in leading towards ensuring that all DC students have equitable access to excellent educators, consistent with the Every Student Succeeds Act.  

The Registered Apprenticeship Program (RAP) Specialist position is located in OSSE’s Division of Teaching and Learning, within the Educator Pipelines, Equity and Quality (EPPQ) team, which manages critical state-level, public-facing systems related to the educator workforce. The RAP Specialist will support the design, launch, implementation and oversight of DC’s inaugural registered apprenticeship in teaching program, which seeks to provide no-cost pathways to DC Residents who are interested in becoming career educators in DC. The Specialist will support local education agencies (LEAs) and educator preparation programs (EPP) partners to ensure the program is making progress towards ensuring equitable access to excellent educators, with a particular focus on educator retention and workforce diversity. The RAP Administrator will report to the Manager of Educator Pipelines, Preparation and Support. 

Specific functions of the Registered Apprenticeship Program (RAP) Specialist include: 

• Provide leadership and direction to support strategic planning and successful implementation of OSSE’s flagship “Registered Apprenticeship Program” 
• Work closely with the Manager of Educator Pipelines, Preparation and Support to coordinate policy, funding, monitoring, and technical assistance efforts that support successful administration, implementation, and oversight of OSSE’s registered apprenticeship program 
• Maintain a high-level of knowledge and understanding of national educator preparation policy and practice; learn from promising and best practices that are being implemented by leading states and practitioners 
• Work closely with the Educator Preparation State Approval Administrator to ensure alignment between educator preparation provider and subject area program approval and the Apprenticeship program; support educator preparation provider and subject area program approval systems and processes as necessary 
• Leverage data about DC’s student and educator populations to make informed decisions about the current and future direction of OSSE’s registered apprenticeship program 
• Clearly communicate opportunities, successes, and challenges to key educational stakeholders 
• Develop dynamic guidance and resources to support District educators in understanding and implementing registered apprenticeship in teaching requirements. 

Key qualifications for the role include: 

• A four-year Bachelors’ degree from an accredited college or university  
• A proven track record in launching and leading programs to achieve measurable results 
• Demonstrated ability to use data and information to plan and act strategically to improve program outcomes 
• Knowledge of federal and local policy, programs, and requirements related to teacher preparation 
• Experience working collaboratively with diverse teams to achieve ambitious goals 
• Excellent interpersonal and collaboration skills, including stakeholder engagement facilitation 
• Knowledge and understanding of the DC education landscape and the role of key entities, including DC’s educator preparation programs and local educational agencies 
• Knowledge of and professional experience in the following functional areas: educator retention, educator workforce diversification, equity in educator pipelines, educator development 
• Capacity to synthesize large amounts of qualitative and quantitative information to uncover trends, analyze root causes, and act strategically 
• Exemplary fiscal and program management skills, with a focus on grants and/or similar programming that uses public funds. Strong project management and organization skills  
• Strong written and verbal communication skills that enable the incumbent to effectively and efficiently communicate both technical and theoretical topics accurately, concisely, and compellingly 
• Meticulous attention to detail, with an ability to produce high-quality work in a fast-paced, dynamic environment; and 
• An unapologetic commitment to ensuring that all DC students have equitable, sustained access to educators who are equipped with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary to enable all DC students to succeed. 
• Experience teaching or leading in a school, local educational agency, or educator preparation provider 

Our ideal candidate will also have: 

• Experience in educator preparation accreditation or approval; 
• Demonstrated experience approaching persistent challenges with curiosity and creativity;  
• A growth mindset; and  
• Experience interpreting requirements into program design and implementation. 

Interested applicants should register for the OSSE Hiring Fair.