Who We Are
The New York City Muslim Center (NYCMC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and home to the largest Islamic center in New York City. Our 60,000-square-foot facility impacts more than 2,000 lives weekly and serves as the headquarters for:
- NYCMC Wellspring Schools
- NYCMC Uplift
- The Jesus Son of Mary Mosque
- NYCMC FKAD Institute
At NYCMC Wellspring Schools, we believe students should not have to choose between academic excellence and a strong Islamic identity.
We are building a school where students are intellectually curious, spiritually grounded, deeply engaged, and prepared to contribute meaningfully to the world around them.
That requires exceptional educators.
And exceptional educators require more than occasional observations and professional development workshops.
They need meaningful feedback.
Strong curriculum.
Clear instructional standards.
Someone who notices when a classroom is working.
Someone who notices when it is not.
And someone capable of helping an educator understand the difference.
The Opportunity
We are looking for an Instructional Coach who understands that great teaching does not happen by accident.
This role exists to protect and continuously raise the instructional standard across NYCMC Wellspring Schools.
You will review lesson plans.
Observe classrooms.
Analyze student engagement.
Coach educators.
Model instruction.
Strengthen curriculum.
Develop professional development.
Study assessment results.
Identify instructional weaknesses.
And help educators turn feedback into measurable improvement.
You will not simply evaluate teachers.
You will develop them.
When a classroom is thriving, you will identify what is working and help spread those practices throughout the school.
When students are disengaged, struggling academically, or repeatedly experiencing behavioral challenges, you will help determine whether instruction, lesson design, pacing, relevance, differentiation, or classroom environment is contributing to the problem.
The question is not simply:
“Why isn't this student engaged?”
The question is also:
“What could we change about the learning experience?”
That is the work this role exists to lead.
What You’ll Do
1. Own Instructional Quality
- Ensure classroom instruction consistently meets the standards of the Wellspring Model
- Conduct classroom walkthroughs and formal observations across grade levels and subject areas
- Maintain a consistent observation rotation so every educator receives instructional feedback—not only educators experiencing difficulty
- Evaluate student engagement, creativity, rigor, instructional delivery, differentiation, and model fidelity
- Identify instruction that has drifted toward passive delivery, excessive lecture, compliance, or content without meaningful context
- Identify highly effective classrooms and translate successful practices into schoolwide expectations
- Ensure lessons demonstrate the Wellspring Creativity Pillars: ideation, higher-order thinking, fun, and real-world relevance
- Help educators consistently answer the question: “Why does this matter to this student?”
- Ensure instruction connects academic learning to meaningful real-world applications and, where appropriate, dunya and akhirah
2. Strengthen Lesson Planning
- Review educator lesson plans on a consistent weekly cycle
- Ensure plans demonstrate clear objectives, appropriate rigor, differentiation, Islamic integration, and meaningful student engagement
- Ensure educators intentionally incorporate all levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy rather than relying primarily on recall
- Review differentiation to ensure educators are planning for actual students and specific learning needs
- Provide timely written feedback identifying both strengths and specific improvements
- Follow up directly when lesson plans are missing, incomplete, late, or below the instructional standard
- Maintain the expectation that educators plan ahead and have instructional materials prepared before they are needed
- Support educators in using Wellspring-approved planning tools and technology effectively
3. Coach and Develop Educators
- Lead ongoing coaching cycles for Lead and Assistant Educators
- Conduct coaching conversations rooted in observation evidence, student work, engagement data, and educator reflection
- Develop individualized educator growth plans with clear goals and follow-up dates
- Track progress between coaching and observation cycles
- Coach educators in instructional frameworks including the Workshop Model, 5E Model, and Gradual Release of Responsibility
- Model lessons in real classrooms when educators need to see an instructional strategy demonstrated
- Observe lessons after coaching to determine whether changes are producing stronger student outcomes
- Coach Assistant Educators on active classroom support, student engagement, proximity, materials, and effective redirection
- Help strong educators move from good instruction to exceptional instruction
- Create a culture where educators are comfortable receiving feedback, practicing new strategies, and continuously improving
4. Design Meaningful Professional Development
- Identify schoolwide professional-development needs through classroom observations, lesson-plan reviews, assessment results, and student-performance trends
- Design PD around actual problems occurring in Wellspring classrooms rather than generic educational topics
- Deliver engaging, practical professional development that educators can immediately apply
- Develop follow-up systems to determine whether professional development changed classroom practice
- Create opportunities for educators to observe and learn from strong teaching across the school
- Build instructional showcases, classroom snapshots, model lessons, and other opportunities to share effective practice
- Support new educators in understanding and implementing the Wellspring instructional model
5. Lead Curriculum and Academic Alignment
- Review and recommend curriculum, textbooks, instructional programs, and academic resources
- Evaluate instructional materials against Wellspring standards rather than relying solely on publisher claims
- Maintain clear scope and sequence across subjects and grade levels
- Develop and monitor pacing guides
- Ensure curriculum remains appropriately aligned with applicable New York State standards
- Monitor alignment with frameworks including Common Core, NGSS, C3, computer science standards, and other applicable standards
- Ensure curriculum incorporates the Creativity Pillars and appropriate Islamic integration
- Identify gaps, unnecessary repetition, pacing problems, and inconsistencies between grade levels
- Coordinate with educators and leadership to continuously strengthen curriculum
6. Strengthen Assessment and Academic Outcomes
- Help establish what students should be assessed on, when they should be assessed, and how assessment results should influence instruction
- Review assessments to ensure they measure understanding, application, analysis, and growth—not simply memorization
- Monitor student-performance data across classrooms, subjects, and grade levels
- Identify patterns of academic strength and weakness
- Determine where curriculum, pacing, assessment design, or instructional delivery may be contributing to weak outcomes
- Support educators in responding to assessment data through reteaching, intervention, differentiation, and enrichment
- Review student work samples to understand instructional impact over time
- Help school leadership understand not only what academic results show, but why results are moving or failing to move
7. Support Student-Centered Differentiation
- Help educators understand the students in front of them rather than planning only for the class as a whole
- Support the implementation and instructional use of the Student Interest Portfolio
- Ensure student interests, academic needs, strengths, learning patterns, and relevant information meaningfully influence lesson planning
- Help educators use student interests to increase relevance and engagement
- Audit differentiation to determine whether content, process, and product are genuinely being modified for different learners
- Work with student-support personnel to ensure important information about student learning needs reaches educators
- Support intervention and enrichment planning based on individual student needs
8. Investigate Instructional Root Causes
When classroom difficulties arise, this role does not immediately assume the problem is the student.
It investigates the learning environment.
- Train educators to examine Mindset, Instruction, and Environment when classroom or behavioral concerns arise
- Coach educators in conducting meaningful root-cause analysis rather than completing intervention steps as a formality
- Review lesson plans, student work, classroom observations, engagement, pacing, differentiation, instructional creativity, and relevance when investigating concerns
- Conduct independent instructional reviews when cases are escalated through the Wellspring Behavior Diagnostic
- Determine whether instructional quality can reasonably be ruled in or out as a contributing factor
- Return instructional findings clearly and professionally to the appropriate student-support team
- When an instructional gap is identified, coach the educator through lesson redesign, pacing, differentiation, relevance, classroom environment, or delivery changes
- Reevaluate the classroom after interventions to determine whether the instructional changes worked
- Collaborate professionally with the Dean, Guidance Counselor, and school leadership while maintaining clear role boundaries
9. Develop Educator Communication Skills
- Train educators to communicate student progress clearly and constructively with families
- Teach educators how to lead effective student progress conversations
- Help educators begin conversations with student strengths while still communicating concerns clearly
- Ensure educators use student work, assessment results, and observable evidence when discussing progress
- Coach educators on communicating difficult academic information without becoming accusatory or vague
- Rehearse challenging conversations with educators before important meetings when necessary
- Help establish a consistent Wellspring standard for communicating academic growth
10. Use Data to Create Accountability
- Track lesson-plan submission and completion consistently
- Maintain an organized classroom walkthrough and observation record
- Monitor instructional engagement data across classrooms
- Track progress on educator growth plans
- Monitor assessment distributions and academic-performance trends
- Track implementation of Bloom’s Taxonomy and the Wellspring Creativity Pillars
- Maintain student-work samples demonstrating growth and instructional impact
- Use data to identify educators who require additional coaching
- Identify classrooms and educators whose practices should be studied and replicated
- Raise instructional concerns before they become schoolwide problems
- Provide school leadership with clear reporting on instructional quality, progress, risks, and academic trends
11. Strengthen Wellspring’s Professional Culture
- Build a professional culture where feedback is expected rather than feared
- Encourage educators to openly share effective practices
- Help create an environment where problems are addressed directly and constructively
- Model professionalism, accountability, urgency, integrity, curiosity, humility, and continuous improvement
- Participate in faculty meetings, leadership meetings, professional development, and schoolwide initiatives
- Collaborate across departments while maintaining appropriate role boundaries
- Support the Islamic values, expectations, and culture of NYCMC Wellspring Schools
- Treat educator development as an ongoing responsibility rather than an annual evaluation process
Who You Are
You can walk into a classroom and quickly understand whether students are actually learning.
You notice the student staring out the window.
The lesson that has become a lecture.
The activity students are completing without understanding why.
The question that only requires recall.
The educator working harder than every student in the room.
And the moments where a small instructional change could transform the lesson.
But you do not walk into classrooms looking for reasons to criticize educators.
You look for opportunities to make teaching stronger.
You know how to tell an educator that something needs to change without making them defensive.
You ask questions before giving answers.
You can model what you are asking someone else to do.
You understand curriculum.
Assessment.
Differentiation.
Engagement.
Classroom management.
Student development.
And instructional design.
You understand that high expectations and engaging instruction are not opposites.
Students can enjoy learning while being challenged.
Educators can receive accountability while feeling supported.
A classroom can have structure without becoming passive.
And Islamic education can be deeply faith-centered while maintaining exceptional academic standards.
You believe excellent schools are built classroom by classroom.
And educator by educator.
Required Qualifications
- PhD in Education, Curriculum and Instruction, Educational Leadership, Teaching, or a closely related field
- New York State teaching certification or strong eligibility for certification
- At least five years of successful lead teaching experience
- Demonstrated record of strong classroom instruction and student outcomes
- Experience coaching, mentoring, supervising, or developing educators
- Strong understanding of curriculum design, standards alignment, assessment, and instructional planning
- Strong knowledge of differentiated instruction and student-engagement strategies
- Ability to observe instruction and translate observations into clear, actionable feedback
- Ability to analyze student-performance data and identify instructional trends
- Ability to facilitate professional development for educators
- Strong understanding of Bloom’s Taxonomy and evidence-based instructional frameworks
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills
- Strong organizational and follow-through skills
- Ability to have difficult professional conversations respectfully and clearly
- Ability to work effectively across elementary, middle, and high school settings
- Ability to collaborate with educators, administrators, student-support personnel, and school leadership
- Alignment with Islamic values and the culture of NYCMC Wellspring Schools
Preferred Qualifications
- Prior experience as an Instructional Coach, Dean of Instruction, Department Chair, Curriculum Lead, Assistant Principal, or similar instructional-leadership role
- Experience coaching educators through formal observation and improvement cycles
- Experience designing and facilitating schoolwide professional development
- Experience developing curriculum, scope and sequence, pacing guides, or assessment systems
- Experience with project-based, inquiry-based, or student-centered instruction
- Experience analyzing schoolwide academic and assessment data
- Experience leading instructional improvement across multiple grade levels or content areas
- Experience teaching or leading in a private, charter, religious, or college-preparatory school
- Experience supporting multilingual learners and students with varying academic needs
- Experience helping educators use technology and AI responsibly to strengthen instruction and planning
Job Type: Full-time
Pay: $120,000.00 - $140,000.00 per year
Work Location: In person
