Reading Specialist $120,000 USD/year Pay is set based on global value, not the local market.
Most roles = hourly rate x 40 hrs x 50 weeks
Reading Specialist $120,000 USD/year
Description
- On-site at an Alpha campus located in Lake Forest CA, Palo Alto CA, Piedmont CA, San Francisco CA, Santa Monica CA, Greenwich CT, Chicago IL, Boston MA, New York City NY, or Chantilly VA (relocation assistance available)
- $120,000 annual salary, distributed weekly. Full health, dental, and vision coverage begins on day one
- Adaptive learning systems and AI-driven tools embedded in everyday teaching practice
You know that 20 minutes of diagnostic-driven reading instruction delivers more progress than 90 minutes following a script—and you have student outcomes to back it up. You've seen children move past phonics barriers when you identified the specific gap yourself, rather than waiting for a curriculum to dictate the next step. If building lessons from live student data feels like autonomy instead of burden, this role is worth your attention.
Alpha's approach to reading instruction rests on one principle: every moment counts. Your workshop sessions last 20 minutes and center on what individual students truly require, not what a district timeline suggests. You will evaluate reading ability, organize targeted small groups, and provide high-impact structured literacy teaching (phonics, fluency, comprehension) to children aged 4–7, producing measurable weekly advancement. AI-driven adaptive platforms work beside you, producing performance insights that allow you to refine the next day's lesson before the current one concludes.
This position evolves. During the first year, your focus is classroom-centered: facilitating workshops, conducting motivational activities that transform hesitant readers into enthusiastic learners, and supplying granular observations to the tech team refining Alpha's AI literacy platform. As those systems mature and your input influences their design, your influence reaches beyond your immediate students. You will contribute to a reading framework that operates across multiple sites, transforming methods proven with 15 children into infrastructure serving hundreds.
If your career has been spent demonstrating that structured literacy delivers results, and you are prepared to combine that knowledge with technology that extends your reach, this opportunity removes the ceiling your classroom once imposed.
What you will be doing
- Creating and facilitating 20-minute reading workshops informed by your own diagnostic evaluation of individual student reading ability and skill gaps
- Applying AI-generated performance insights to modify group composition and instructional priorities between sessions, rather than waiting for quarterly assessments
- Facilitating motivational activities that cultivate intrinsic reading motivation, incorporating age-suitable gamification and personalized goal-setting with K-2 learners
- Piloting and assessing AI literacy platforms during live instruction, then delivering detailed feedback to the technology development team regarding effectiveness and limitations
- Monitoring quantifiable progress (fluency acceleration, decoding proficiency gains, accuracy enhancement) and applying findings to adjust methods on a weekly basis
What you will NOT be doing
- Adhering to a scripted or pre-packaged reading curriculum. You identify needs and create instruction independently.
- Conducting 60-90 minute lecture-based literacy sessions. Workshops are brief, targeted, and intensive.
- Serving exclusively struggling readers. Your instruction spans all K-2 students at varying proficiency levels.
- Working independently of technology. AI adaptive systems are integral to your daily practice, not supplementary.
- Deferring instructional adjustments until quarterly data cycles. You respond immediately to current data signals.
Key responsibilities
Advance early elementary students to grade-level reading proficiency using adaptive, AI-supported structured literacy methods.
Candidate requirements
- Bachelor's degree (any subject)
- Master's degree in reading instruction OR structured literacy certification (Orton-Gillingham, Wilson Reading System, IMSE, CERI, LETRS, Neuhaus, UFLI, or equivalent)
- 2+ years of full-time K-2 structured reading instruction in a school or clinical setting within the last 5 years, utilizing systematic phonics or structured literacy
- Capacity to independently design reading lessons and articulate instructional methods and content without dependence on published programs
- Commitment to on-site work at an Alpha campus (Lake Forest CA, Palo Alto CA, Piedmont CA, San Francisco CA, Santa Monica CA, Greenwich CT, Chicago IL, Boston MA, New York City NY, or Chantilly VA; relocation assistance provided)
- Commitment to daily use of AI and adaptive learning platforms and flexibility as these tools develop
- Legal authorization to work in the U.S. without requiring visa sponsorship
Nice to have
- Familiarity with diagnostic reading assessments (e.g., DRA, DIBELS, AIMSweb) for creating differentiated instructional groups
- Documented history of measurable student reading progress you can articulate with concrete data (e.g., advanced 12 students from Level C to Level G within one semester)
- Experience partnering with edtech teams, product developers, or instructional design groups on tool creation
- Background in a startup, micro-school, or alternative educational setting where you developed systems instead of implementing existing frameworks
You will be working for
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