3.9 - Subject Specialist

SERIES 3 - ADMINISTRATION

According to Liberty Common School’s Charter:

1. The School’s curriculum, and the Thinking Framework within which it is delivered, requires specialization as the students progress through the grades. For this reason, teachers in the upper grades are to have advanced training in their specialty (English, Math, Science, or History/Economics). The typical training of an elementary teacher does not prepare them to deliver the Core Knowledge Sequence, nor the related thinking skills required. (Section (d) I. A. School Design, page 12*)

2. “The interaction of faculty between lower and higher level classes is fundamental to providing the preparation support, higher order thinking mentoring, and the coherence of the curriculum which builds on itself over time.” (Section (d) I. A. School Design, page 13)

3. “Upper grade teachers will mentor elementary grade teachers in their areas of specialization. They will help ensure continuity in subject content throughout the curriculum.” (Summary, pg. 2)

In order to meet these requirements of our Charter, Upper School Specialists:

• Have primary oversight responsibility for the academic programs of the school in the areas of English, Math, Science, and History/Economics. Report annually to the Headmaster and the BOD about the state of the curriculum and skill development in their area of academic specialty.
• Assist in developing improvements to the K-8 curriculum as directed by the BOD.
• Oversee continuity of subject content and cohesive delivery across all grades.
• Review content and skills assessments and other methods of gathering data to assess student progress in English, Math, Science, and History/Economics. Recommend necessary improvements and changes based on assessment data to staff, Headmaster, or BOD as appropriate.
• Train and mentor teachers in the content of the Specialist’s area of academic expertise.
• Suggest opportunities for teaching English, Math, Science, or History/Economics across disciplines such as identifying historical connections in literature, historical roots of math concepts, economic concepts in politics, Latin vocabulary in science, and cooperative projects between teachers in all areas.
• Define the specific critical thinking skills unique to their area of specialization, i.e. the Habits of Mind. References for Habits of Mind in Science, Math and History are included in the Charter (Section (d) I. B. Philosophy and Approach, Skills, page 16).
• Train and mentor teachers and suggest methods for teaching skills (which are reading, writing, speaking, listening, calculating, and thinking) (Section (d) I. A. School Design, page 13) in accordance with our Charter which requires skill instruction integrated with content. (Section (d) I. B. Philosophy and Approach, Skills, page 15).
• Communicate regularly with Headmaster on issues of scientific, historical, mathematical and/or English literacy at Liberty Common School.
• Communicate regularly and professionally with colleagues.
• Communicate annually, or on an as needed basis, with the BOD on the progress of their mentoring program and advancement of the curriculum in their area of academic expertise.
• Have and continue to seek advanced training annually in order to bring new ideas, programs and curriculum to school at various grade levels. Present annual plan for advancement and training and assesses need for and requests budget for necessary training for self and others.
• Teach content classes for grades 7-9 and follow all criteria for the Teacher job description.
• Develops annual plan for advancement and refinement of Upper School Specialist job including requests for funding and compensation. * Page numbers correspond to those in the original Charter document written and submitted by parents to the PSD Board of Education on October 1, 1996. The on-line version of the Charter may have different pagination.

Adopted: 07-25-2002