Duties
Description: The Coordinator of Specialized Services PreK-8 provides district-level leadership, coordination, and oversight of specialized programming for students with extensive support and behavioral needs. This administrative role ensures high-quality, legally compliant, and instructionally sound services that promote academic growth, functional skill development, independence, and long-term outcomes for students across District 67.
The Coordinator of Specialized Services PreK-8 serves as a key instructional and operational leader within the Department of Special Education and Student Services, supporting building teams through referral, evaluation, service design, staff supervision, and professional learning, family partnership, and interagency collaboration. This position works closely with the Director of Special Education and Student Services, the Coordinator of Teaching and Learning and Student Services, and the Executive Director of Special Education to ensure consistency, coherence, and continuous improvement across the continuum of services.
The Coordinator is in an administrative role that supervises and evaluates personnel.
Essential Functions:
Service Delivery Oversight and Leadership
- Leads the development, refinement, and implementation of specialized services for students with extensive support and behavioral needs across PreK-8
- Oversees services for students with extensive support and behavioral needs, ensuring instruction builds academic skills, functional skills, independent living skills, and vocational readiness
- Oversees the development and maintenance of curriculum maps and instructional frameworks for students with extensive support and behavioral needs
- Collaborates closely with the Coordinator of Teaching and Learning and Student Services to ensure alignment across the continuum of services and smooth transitions for students requiring increasing or decreasing levels of support
- Monitors and evaluates districtwide service delivery, curriculum, staffing models, and instructional practices to ensure consistency, quality, and alignment with district goals across all elementary and middle schools
- Coordinates articulation processes for students transitioning within the district from grades PreK-K, 4th to 5th, and 8th to 9th grade
- Collects, analyzes, and uses academic, behavioral, functional, and transition data to evaluate service delivery effectiveness, identify trends, and guide continuous improvement of specialized services
- Collaborates with specialists, MTSS Coordinators, and leadership teams to align specialized services with tiered academic and behavioral systems of support
- Provides shared oversight of Extended School Year (ESY) programming, with a focus on instructional coherence, staffing, and student progress monitoring
- Supports recruitment, hiring, and onboarding processes for special education and student services staff members to ensure strong staff and role alignment
LEA Responsibilities
- Serves as the primary LEA representative for triennial evaluations for preschool students and students with extensive support and behavioral needs, ensuring legal compliance, high-quality evaluation practices, and defensible IEP development
- Ensure adherence to procedural safeguards, timelines, documentation standards, and transition requirements
- Identifies areas of compliance risk and collaborates with district leadership to proactively address concerns related to IDEA, evaluations, placements, and service to delivery
- Collaborates with Early Intervention providers (Part C) to support timely, compliant, and developmentally appropriate transitions from Early Intervention to preschool services, including systems for information sharing, family communication, and service continuity
- Oversight of Early Childhood special education state reporting, ensuring accurate data collection, compliance with state and federal requirements, and alignment with Early Intervention transitions and preschool service delivery
Faculty Support
- Partners with building principals to support decision-making related to specialized service delivery, staffing, and student placement
- Provides coaching, professional development, and ongoing support related to early childhood, modified curriculum, transition planning, and community-based learning
- Leads ongoing professional development for Teaching Assistants, focusing on instructional support, student engagement, and behavior strategies
- Facilitates collaborative curriculum and specially designed instruction (SDI) planning with teachers and related service providers
- Oversees and conducts Crisis Prevention Intervention (CPI) training and collaborates with district and building leadership to ensure safe, proactive, and CPI-aligned behavioral practices across specialized programs
- Oversees Dynamic Learning Maps (DLM) assessment training, administration, and compliance to ensure accurate implementation and reporting
- Oversees homebound and hospital-based instructional services, ensuring appropriate coordination, documentation, and record maintenance in compliance with district and state requirements
- Coordinates districtwide professional development for Early Childhood special education staff to support high-quality instruction, inclusive practices, and compliance with state and federal requirements
Supervision and Evaluation
- Supervises and evaluates assigned special education teachers, teaching assistants, and related service providers supporting students with extensive support and behavioral needs, in collaboration with the Director of Special Education and Student Services
- Supports school teams in analyzing student data to inform decisions regarding teaching assistant support, including implementation monitoring and fade planning, in collaboration with IEP teams and building administrators
- Co-leads the development and implementation of districtwide systems and decision-making frameworks for Teaching Assistant (TA) utilization, including criteria for assignment, monitoring, and fade planning to support student independence and access
Collaboration and Communication
- Communicates regularly with families regarding services, vocational opportunities, community agencies, and transition pathways
- Provides coordination of community-based support for students and families, including Medicaid-linked services, PUNS (Prioritization of Urgency of Need for Services), guardianship and power of attorney considerations, and connections to adult service agencies
- Oversees transition assessments, community-based instruction (CBI), and interagency collaboration to ensure postsecondary planning is instructionally meaningful, compliant, and aligned to student outcomes
- Serves as a liaison to adult service agencies, community partners, vocational sites, and organizations supporting postsecondary outcomes
- Collaborates with Teaching & Learning, Student Services, and building administrators to ensure shared ownership of outcomes for students with disabilities
- Facilitates parent meetings and workshops and supports district newsletters to strengthen family communication and engagement
- Collaborates with the District Transportation Coordinator to arrange transportation for eligible students
Other Responsibilities
- Complies with applicable Board of Education and administrative policies and regulations
- Chairs and/or co-chairs committees as requested by Director of Special Education and Student Services
- Performs other duties as assigned
Professional Responsibilities
- Maintains confidentiality of school matters
- Communicates effectively with students, parents, staff, and other professionals
- Collaborates with peers to enhance the work culture and support instructional planning
- Maintains and continually develops an in-depth knowledge and comprehensive understanding of the principles of site-based management and its techniques
- Works harmoniously and effectively with teachers, students, parents and district administrators to accomplish the goals of the position
- Models high standards of professionalism in all situations
- Maintains visibility, accessibility and approachability and represent the district with passion, dignity and pride in the school community
- Stays current regarding state and national standards, benchmarks, and frameworks for elementary and middle school curriculum
- Stays current regarding state and national standards, benchmarks, and frameworks for student services
- Builds an environment of trust through communication and transparency about decisions and how they are made
Qualifications
Qualifications:
Education, Experience, and Licensure (required):
- Valid Illinois Professional Educator License (PEL) with LBS1, school psychologist, speech pathologist, or social work endorsement required.
- Administrative endorsement (General Administrative, Principal, or Teacher Leader) required
- Completion of Illinois Performance Evaluation Growth Through Learning training modules (PERA-qualified)
- Minimum of five (5) years of experience working with students with significant behavioral, cognitive, adaptive, or functional needs
- Knowledge of transition planning, community partnerships, functional curricula, vocational programming, and community-based instruction
- Strong understanding of transition services, adult agency systems, and postsecondary planning to support students' successful movement from school to adult life
Competencies (Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities):
- Deep knowledge of inclusive practices, specially designed instruction, functional curricula, and behavior supports for students with complex learning profiles, including in adaptive living and functional skills
- Strong understanding of instructional decision-making for students with significant cognitive, adaptive, medical, and behavioral needs
- Ability to lead complex IEP teams and facilitate difficult conversations with clarity and professionalism
- Skill in coaching and supervising multidisciplinary staff across multiple buildings
- Data-literate with the ability to interpret academic, behavioral, and functional data to guide service delivery improvement
- Strong organizational skills and attention to compliance timelines and documentation requirements
- Effective communicator with families, staff, administrators, and external agencies
- Ability to balance instructional leadership with operational and compliance responsibilities
- Demonstrated ability to problem-solve and adapt services to meet student needs across diverse settings
Additional Notes
Physical Demands & Work Environment:
While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to be mobile and transport instructional materials from one setting to another within the building. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 30 pounds.
The physical demands and work environment described are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
How to Apply
Interested candidates must apply online. Click here to access the online application.