TITLE: Head of Early Childhood and English Language Learning
About You:
You excel at making connections with people, motivating and inspiring them, building buy-in and engagement, and persuading people to take action to achieve results.
You see the big picture and think and act strategically, while remaining deeply connected to the day-to-day realities of classrooms, students, and families.
You have a strong sense of urgency and you thoughtfully weigh multiple options before making decisions.
You enjoy being a key part of a strong, positive and closely-knit team that you can lean on for support, collaboration and share in each other’s success. You also have a great sense of fun.
You have the ability to learn quickly and thoroughly while continually recognizing and adapting to changing conditions.
You are a natural advocate for the students who need the most — young learners and English language learners — and you bring both urgency and precision to the compliance and instructional systems that serve them.
You have a sincere appreciation for people and how they are each uniquely motivated, including an understanding of how to engage families and communities from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds.
About Us:
Established in 1874, we have grown to 21 schools, serving over 10,000 students with over 50+ languages spoken by our students.
Our organization is centered around our values and beliefs that our students are confident self-advocates with interpersonal and critical thinking skills who productively and innovatively make a positive impact in their current and future communities.
We are proud of the family-like culture that permeates our system. Our system boasts award winning faculty and principals, high achieving students, signature programs and unparalleled parental and community support.
We take our mission and vision seriously and we are committed to inspiring excellence in every child and every adult so that our students are prepared to embrace the opportunities of tomorrow. At Tempe Elementary you have an opportunity to change the world and life trajectory of over 10,000 students.
About the Role:
Why the role exists:
The Head of Early Childhood and English Language Learning oversees two of the district’s most foundational program areas serving students at the most critical developmental windows. Early Childhood sets the trajectory for every student’s academic journey — the quality, intentionality, and developmental appropriateness of those earliest experiences directly determines whether Tempe Elementary youngest learners arrive at kindergarten ready to succeed. English Language Learning serves one of the district’s most significant and diverse student populations, and the systems, structures, and instructional practices in place for English language learners reflect the district’s deepest commitments to access and high expectations for every child.
Working under the direction of the Director of Academic and Instructional Programs, this role ensures that Early Childhood programs are developmentally grounded, curriculum-aligned, and continuously improving — and that ELL programs are implemented with fidelity and compliant with all state and federal requirements, and delivering measurable language acquisition and academic outcomes for every English language learner in Tempe Elementary.
This is a rare opportunity for an individual to step in and be a part of transforming an organization’s outcomes and student learning environments.
This role commits a minimum of 60% of the workday to schools — visiting Early Childhood classrooms, observing ELL instruction, coaching site leaders and teachers, and maintaining the school-level presence necessary to understand and respond to the needs of the district’s youngest learners and English language learners.
It also represents a chance for this person to be part of the leadership team of the organization, and enjoy significant personal and professional growth along the way.
Responsibilities & Deliverables:
The Head of Early Childhood and English Language Learning is held accountable for three outcomes. Each outcome is a direct contribution to the Director of Academic and Instructional Programs’ accountabilities, which in turn support the Chief Learning Officer’s (CLO) districtwide outcomes. This role owns the Early Childhood and ELL lane of each outcome — ensuring that the district’s youngest learners and its English language learners receive instruction, support, and services that are legally sound, developmentally appropriate, and producing measurable results.
Outcome 1: Execution of the Superintendent’s Instructional Vision — Early Childhood and ELL Lane
The Head of Early Childhood and English Language Learning is accountable for ensuring the Superintendent’s instructional vision is implemented with fidelity in every Early Childhood classroom and in every ELL setting across all 21 schools. These are not peripheral programs — they serve students at the most critical developmental windows. Getting them right is non-negotiable.
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Ensure all Early Childhood programs — including preschool and developmental programs — are aligned to the Superintendent’s instructional direction, Arizona early childhood standards, and current best practices in developmentally appropriate instruction, with documented annual program reviews.
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Ensure all ELL programs are implemented in full alignment with approved SEI models, with documented evidence that the correct model variation is in place at each school based on the placement and proficiency levels of enrolled English language learners.
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Develop, monitor, and update curriculum for Early Childhood programs in collaboration with the Director of Academic and Instructional Programs — ensuring coherent vertical alignment from preschool through the primary grades.
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Ensure that classroom materials, instructional resources, and teaching practices in both Early Childhood and ELL settings are current, evidence-based, and implemented consistently across all sites.
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Identify and close gaps between the Superintendent’s instructional vision and current practice in Early Childhood and ELL settings — developing targeted action plans with timelines, measurable milestones, and reporting progress to the Director of Academic and Instructional Programs on a defined cadence.
Outcome 2: Principal Development — Early Childhood and ELL Lane
The Head of Early Childhood and English Language Learning is accountable for ensuring that principals and their instructional leadership teams have the knowledge and tools necessary to lead Early Childhood and ELL programs effectively in their buildings. A principal who cannot navigate state and federal compliance or support developmentally appropriate early childhood instruction cannot fully serve these student populations.
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Deliver a measurable, districtwide professional learning plan for principals and instructional staff on Early Childhood best practices, ELD instructional strategies and ILLP development — updated annually based on compliance requirements, achievement data, and observed practice gaps.
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Provide each principal with timely, specific guidance and coaching on ELL compliance obligations — including 4-hour ELD time allocation requirements, ILLP documentation, student grouping by proficiency level, and the correct administration of the state language acquisition test.
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Conduct regular school visits with documented coaching conversations focused on Early Childhood and ELL instructional quality — providing actionable feedback to site leaders with follow-through tracked to resolution.
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Ensure Compliance Specialists serve as genuine instructional and compliance partners to principals — with defined school visit schedules, documented coaching conversations, and measurable follow-through on identified areas of need.
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Identify principals and site teams who need additional targeted support in Early Childhood or ELL leadership and develop intervention plans in collaboration with the Director of Academic and Instructional Programs.
Outcome 3: Student Achievement — Early Childhood and ELL Lane
The Head of Early Childhood and English Language Learning is accountable for measurable outcomes for Early Childhood students and English language learners across all 21 schools. Compliance is the floor — measurable language acquisition, developmental progress, and academic achievement are the ceiling. This role owns both.
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Own and monitor Early Childhood program outcome data — including developmental screening results, kindergarten readiness indicators, and program participation rates — reporting progress to the Director of Academic and Instructional Programs on a defined cadence with diagnosis and recommended action.
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Own and monitor ELL student achievement data — including language acquisition test results, reclassification rates, ELD progress monitoring, and academic achievement on state assessments — disaggregated by school, grade level, and proficiency level.
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Manage and execute all ELL compliance obligations with documented accuracy and on-time delivery: student entry and exit based on state language acquisition testing, 4-hour ELD time allocation monitoring, ILLP development and maintenance and all required state and federal program reports and audits.
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Ensure equitable access to high-quality Early Childhood and ELL services across all schools — with particular attention to students who are simultaneously English language learners and receiving Early Childhood services, twice-exceptional learners, and students from historically underserved communities.
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Coordinate home-school communication across language barriers — overseeing Compliance Specialists to ensure that families of ELL students receive timely, accurate, and culturally responsive communication about their children’s language acquisition progress and program placement.
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Collaborate with city and state agencies to ensure wraparound services for Early Childhood students and families are coordinated, documented, and contributing to measurable student outcomes.
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Provide the Director of Academic and Instructional Programs with a clear, data-grounded account of Early Childhood and ELL student progress each semester — including what is working, what is not, compliance status, and what actions are being taken in response.
Who We’re Looking For:
Minimum Qualifications:
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State of Arizona administrative certification. Applicants must have on file in the Human Resources Department a copy of the appropriate valid certificate or evidence of eligibility to be appropriately certified by the Arizona Department of Education.
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Arizona Early Childhood Teacher Certification or equivalent.
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Bilingual or ESL Endorsement required.
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A minimum of five (5) years of administrative and/or management experience.
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A minimum of five (5) years of teaching experience, with direct experience in Early Childhood and/or ELL settings.
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Demonstrated knowledge of Arizona ELL compliance procedures, and state and federal ELL program requirements.
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Demonstrated knowledge of early childhood education principles, developmentally appropriate practice, and early childhood program administration.
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Experience in ELL program supervision and compliance monitoring, including ILLP management, language acquisition testing, and ADE reporting.
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Ability to successfully implement organizational change.
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The ability to make big ideas and complex concepts simple, easy to understand and compelling.
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Excellent organizational, written, communication and problem-solving/creative thinking skills.
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Experience working with families and communities from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds.
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Performs other duties/tasks as assigned by the Director of Academic and Instructional Programs.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:
(Essential functions, as defined under the Americans with Disabilities Act, may include any of the following tasks, knowledge, skills, and other characteristics. This list is ILLUSTRATIVE ONLY, and is not a comprehensive listing of all duties and responsibilities performed by the incumbents of this class.)
DEPARTMENT: Student Success Enterprise
SALARY: Commensurate with experience (aligned to district administrative salary schedule)
WORK YEAR: 12 months
REPORTS TO: Director of Academic and Instructional Programs
EVALUATION: Administrative Evaluation
SUPERVISES:
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Compliance Specialists
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Early Childhood instructional staff as assigned
