Literacy Specialist $100,000 USD/year Pay is set based on global value, not the local market.
Most roles = hourly rate x 40 hrs x 50 weeks
Description
- $100,000 annual salary, paid each week, including health, dental, and vision coverage starting day one
- Fully on-site at a single Alpha campus: Phoenix, AZ; Oklahoma City or Tulsa, OK; Nashville, TN; Austin, Fort Worth, Houston (South Houston or The Woodlands), or Plano, TX; Park City (Salt Lake City), UT; or Dorado, Puerto Rico (relocation assistance available)
- 40-hour workweek, entirely in-classroom with K-2 learners
You've dedicated years to structured literacy mastery. Orton-Gillingham, LETRS, Wilson, IMSE, or a Master's in reading. You listen to a miscue and immediately identify the phonemic skill to address. You build phonics instruction from scratch, no scripted curriculum necessary. That's baseline. It won't set you apart.
What sets you apart is that six-year-olds are excited to see you. At Alpha, you're a Guide before anything else: a dynamic, engaging presence that kids genuinely want to learn with. Structured-literacy credentials open the door; your capacity to captivate a K-2 classroom for a 20-minute session is what earns you the position. If "dynamic, engaging presence" isn't you, this role won't be a fit.
Alpha has reimagined traditional instruction. Students work through academic content independently using AI-adaptive applications — no lectures, no textbooks, no district pacing calendars. Your role represents the one space where a human expert cannot be replaced. You create small-group reading workshops driven by live student performance data, and you facilitate motivation sessions designed to ensure 100% of your students reach their weekly app targets through Alpha's motivational framework (school currency, leaderboards, age-appropriate gamification).
Your initial months focus on winning the room. Workshops must be engaging, appropriately leveled, and demonstrably effective. Student satisfaction metrics and "love your Guide" survey results (goal 90%+) measure this directly. As you establish credibility, your responsibilities expand: reading AI-generated performance data to refine upcoming instruction, communicating fluency progress and decoding milestones to parents, and influencing how Alpha's K-2 reading strategy develops in tandem with adaptive technology. As Alpha grows into new locations, the systems you build become the national blueprint for reading instruction.
Prior to an offer, you'll submit a brief video telling an engaging story for young children, and you'll complete a full day on campus working directly with K-2 students. Low energy with kids disqualifies, regardless of credential strength. That's intentional. Apply now.
What you will be doing
- Creating and facilitating small-group K-2 reading workshops rooted in structured-literacy approaches (Orton-Gillingham, Wilson, LETRS, IMSE, or equivalent), informed by live student data
- Facilitating daily motivation sessions to ensure 100% of students reach their weekly adaptive-app targets, applying Alpha's motivational framework (school currency, leaderboards, age-appropriate gamification)
- Conducting and evaluating running records, fluency probes, and decoding assessments to monitor progress and modify upcoming instruction
- Analyzing AI-generated performance data from Alpha's adaptive learning platforms to differentiate instruction on the fly, not only during planning time
- Serving as the engaging, relatable adult your K-2 students are excited to see daily
What you will NOT be doing
- Implementing a published reading curriculum, scripted program, or district pacing calendar; you create your own lessons using student data
- Delivering full-class lectures; all instruction occurs in small, targeted groups while students engage with academic subjects through adaptive apps
- Serving as a reading consultant, instructional coach, or district-level specialist; you work directly with kids in the classroom every day
- Managing a traditional classroom schedule — subject-by-subject lessons, homework reviews, test preparation; your blocks are workshops, motivation sessions, and data-informed small groups
- Grading homework or issuing report cards; student progress is tracked through app data and your running records
Key responsibilities
Provide structured-literacy instruction that produces measurable acceleration in K-2 reading outcomes across phonics, fluency, and decoding.
Candidate requirements
- Structured-literacy certification (Orton-Gillingham, LETRS, Wilson Reading System, IMSE, CERI, Neuhaus, UFLI, or equivalent) OR a Master's degree in reading instruction
- Bachelor's degree in any discipline, plus 2+ years of full-time K-2 structured reading instruction in a school or clinical environment, using systematic phonics or structured literacy
- Proven capacity to design your own reading lessons and clearly explain what and how you teach, without depending on a published program
- Availability to work in person full-time at one Alpha campus: Phoenix, AZ; Oklahoma City or Tulsa, OK; Nashville, TN; Austin, Fort Worth, Houston (South Houston or The Woodlands), or Plano, TX; Park City (Salt Lake City), UT; or Dorado, Puerto Rico (relocation assistance available)
- Openness to working with all K-2 students (not exclusively struggling readers) and to incorporating AI and adaptive-learning tools into everyday instruction
- Legal authorization to work in the U.S. or Puerto Rico without requiring visa sponsorship
- Bilingual English/Spanish fluency required for the Dorado, Puerto Rico campus
Nice to have
- Practical experience with AI-powered or adaptive reading platforms (e.g., Amira, Lexia, i-Ready, Reading Plus) for instructional planning or student data interpretation
- Documented record of measurable reading outcomes (fluency gains in WCPM, accuracy improvement, decoding level advancement) with specific numbers you can cite
- Experience in non-traditional or innovative educational settings (charter, micro-school, Montessori, hybrid)
- Experience performing, coaching youth sports, or otherwise engaging a K-2 audience beyond the reading classroom
You will be working for
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