Reading 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, distributed weekly, with full health, dental, and vision coverage starting on day one
- Fully on-site at a single Alpha campus: Phoenix, AZ; Oklahoma City or Tulsa, OK; Fort Worth (Keller), Dallas, Plano, or The Woodlands, TX; or Park City (Salt Lake City), UT (relocation assistance available)
- 40-hour work week, 100% classroom-based with kindergarten through second-grade students
You've dedicated years to becoming fluent in structured literacy. Whether it's Orton-Gillingham, LETRS, Wilson, IMSE, or a Master's in reading instruction, you can identify a student's reading error and pinpoint the exact phonemic skill to address. You can build a phonics lesson from scratch without depending on a scripted curriculum. That's the baseline. It won't set you apart here.
What sets you apart is that young children are excited when you enter the room. At Alpha, this position is first and foremost a Guide role: a dynamic, magnetic presence that students genuinely enjoy learning with. Your structured-literacy background opens the door; your capacity to captivate a K-2 classroom during a 20-minute workshop is what secures the offer. If "dynamic, magnetic presence" doesn't fit your profile, this role isn't the right match.
Alpha has reimagined traditional schooling. Students complete academic work independently through AI-adaptive applications — no whole-group lessons, no textbooks, no district-mandated pacing. Your role represents the one area 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 push 100% of students toward their weekly app targets using 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" feedback surveys (goal: 90%+) measure that impact directly. Once you've proven your effectiveness, your responsibilities expand: analyzing AI-generated performance insights to refine subsequent instruction, communicating fluency improvements and decoding progress to families, and influencing how Alpha's K-2 reading framework evolves in tandem with adaptive technology. As Alpha opens additional campuses, the systems you develop will serve as the blueprint for reading instruction across the network.
Before an offer is extended, you'll submit a short video presenting an engaging story for young children, and you'll complete a full day on campus interacting directly with K-2 students. Low energy with children will disqualify you, regardless of your credentials. That's intentional. Apply today.
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 comparable), informed by live student performance data
- Conducting daily motivation sessions designed to ensure 100% of students meet their weekly adaptive-app targets, using Alpha's motivational framework (school currency, leaderboards, age-appropriate gamification)
- Conducting and evaluating running records, fluency assessments, and decoding measures to monitor progress and refine instruction for upcoming sessions
- Analyzing AI-generated performance insights from Alpha's adaptive learning platforms to tailor instruction dynamically, not only during planning phases
- Serving as the approachable, enthusiastic adult your K-2 students are excited to see daily
What you will NOT be doing
- Implementing a commercially published reading curriculum, scripted lesson plans, or district-mandated pacing guides; you build your own lessons using student performance data
- Delivering whole-class lectures; all instruction occurs in small, targeted groups while students complete core academics through adaptive applications
- Serving as a reading consultant, instructional coach, or district-level specialist; you work directly in the classroom with children every day
- Managing a traditional classroom schedule — subject-by-subject lectures, homework correction, test preparation; your time is allocated to workshops, motivation sessions, and data-informed small-group instruction
- Evaluating homework assignments or completing report cards; student advancement is tracked through app analytics and your assessment records
Key responsibilities
Provide structured-literacy instruction that demonstrably accelerates K-2 reading performance across phonics, fluency, and decoding skills.
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, utilizing systematic phonics or structured literacy
- Proven ability to independently design reading lessons and clearly explain your instructional content and methods, without depending on a published program
- Availability to work in person full-time at one Alpha campus: Phoenix, AZ; Oklahoma City or Tulsa, OK; Fort Worth (Keller), Dallas, Plano, or The Woodlands, TX; or Park City (Salt Lake City), UT (relocation assistance available)
- Openness to working with all K-2 students (not exclusively struggling readers) and to incorporating AI and adaptive-learning technologies into everyday instruction
- Legal authorization to work in the U.S. without requiring visa sponsorship
Nice to have
- Practical experience with AI-driven or adaptive reading platforms (e.g., Amira, Lexia, i-Ready, Reading Plus) for instructional planning or student data interpretation
- Documented record of measurable reading improvements (fluency gains in WCPM, accuracy increases, decoding level progression) with specific metrics you can cite
- Experience in non-traditional or innovative educational settings (charter, micro-school, Montessori, hybrid)
- Experience in performance, youth sports coaching, or other contexts requiring you to engage and hold the attention of a K-2 audience beyond the reading classroom
You will be working for
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