USAID RTI International ,Reading Specialist Jobs in Uganda

Job Title: Reading Specialist

Organisation: RTI International

Duty Station: Kampala, Uganda

Job ID: 15805

About RTI:

RTI International
is one of th

e world’s leading research institutes, dedicated to improving the
human condition by turning knowledge into practice. Our staff of more than
3,700 provides research and technical services to governments and businesses in
more than 75 countries in the areas of health and pharmaceuticals, education
and training, surveys and statistics, advanced technology, international
development, economic and social policy, energy and the environment, and
laboratory testing and chemical analysis.

About USAID
Project:

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 will implement an anticipated USAID-funded five-year
cooperative agreement to address literacy and retention issues in 28 districts
in Uganda.

Job Summary: The Reading Specialist will offer
technical support for the development of lesson plans, teacher and student
materials, plans and specified frameworks as funded by USAID/Uganda and agreed
with by MoES. These include working with RTI technical staff to identify,
develop, and harmonize effective mother tongue literacy and English transition
instructional approaches to be used in the early grades. The Reading Specialist
will also provide support for instructional coaches working to implement
revised lesson plans. The assignment is highly technical and managerial, and is
designed to provide high level support for effective local capacity building.

Key Duties and
Responsibilities:

Offers
technical support 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.
Offers
support for design of effective curriculum, lesson planning, instructional
approaches and materials for varied language settings.
Actively
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.
Supports
the Ministry of Education and Sports 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 research findings and practices that are applicable
to developing country contexts.
Works
directly with language experts as appropriate to implement this
program.

Qualifications,
Skills and Experience:

The
reading specialist should hold a relevant Master’s degree
At least
nine years’ experience in the education sector with deep understanding of
scientifically based reading research, or Bachelor’s degree and twelve
years of relevant experience;
Comprehensive
working knowledge of a balanced literacy framework, early literacy
competencies and reading diagnostic measures;
Possess
the ability to measure basic foundation skills for literacy in the early
grades;
Working
knowledge of mother tongue and English transition instruction strategies;
Expertise
in assessing/identifying ability to read and comprehend.