Special Education Coordinator and Assessment Specialist (State Teacher II) - Lookout Mountain.

This position is open only to Colorado state residents.

About the Division of Youth Services

The Division of Youth Services (DYS) provides a continuum of residential and non-residential services that encompass juvenile detention, commitment, and parole. DYS is the agency statutorily mandated to provide for the care and supervision of youth committed by the District Court to the custody of the Colorado Department of Human Services. The Division operates fifteen secure facilities that serve youth between the ages of 10 and 21, who are pre-adjudicated, sentenced, or committed. The Division also contracts with numerous private residential and non-residential service providers throughout the State.

For pre-adjudicated youth, the Division is responsible for the management and oversight of Colorado Youth Detention Continuum, a State-funded, locally administered program that provides services to youth at risk of further progressing into the juvenile justice system. In addition to residential programming, the Division administers juvenile parole services throughout the State.

About the Work Unit

This work unit is responsible for delivering comprehensive educational services to adjudicated youth within a structured, supportive, and secure learning environment. The unit promotes high academic standards; the development of critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and other 21st-century competencies; vocational and workforce readiness; and individual accountability for learning. Educational services include:

• Provision and oversight of special education, general education, career and technical education, and post-secondary programming to ensure alignment with state standards and individualized student needs.
• Professional consultation, guidance, and technical assistance to community-based programs and DYS facilities serving DYS youth.
• Establishment, coordination, and sustainment of collaborative partnerships with internal and external stakeholders responsible for delivering, supplementing, evaluating, or monitoring educational services to ensure quality, compliance, and continuous improvement to support youth academic growth.

Responsibilities

• Provide oversight, coordination, and implementation of special education programming, compliance, and Child Find processes in alignment with federal and state law, DYS policy, IDEA, and related Federal laws.
• Ensure the integrity, implementation, and monitoring of all special education systems within the school, including writing and reviewing IEPs, creating transitional plans, supporting special education and 504 students, and monitoring intervention and support content.
• Lead legal compliance and systems oversight for special education.
• Coordinate IEP leadership and Child Find & assessment processes.
• Provide communication, instruction, and collaboration support.
• Support the culture, climate, and safety of the facility by supervising residents, tools, and materials effectively and providing immediate assistance as necessary.
• Adhere to trauma-informed culture and expectations within the classroom and as a professional colleague, using Motivational Interviewing, PBIS, and Sanctuary Model frameworks.
• Follow expectations for behavior responses and Incident Reports, adhering to the Code of Conduct and professional norms.
• Serve as a substitute teacher as needed using emergency plans and/or created plans to assist with education programming.
• Collaborate to create a positive culture and climate with adherence to workplace policies and standards of professional behavior.
• Administer achievement, vocational, transitional, adaptive, and behavioral assessments to committed youth, analyzing and interpreting results, and preparing written reports with educational recommendations.
• Use required student information systems to document necessary information and serve as the education representative on the multidisciplinary assessment team (MDT).
• Review relevant data and student progress in accordance with federal Child Find requirements and CDE identification processes for all committed youth entering the facility.
• Ensure education participation in broader facility assessment processes, student review processes, and progress monitoring.
• Create classroom planning and instruction that aligns with the DYS educational model and IEP/504 outcomes.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree from an accredited institution in a field of study related to the work assignment.
• Two (2) years of professional experience in an occupational field related to the work assigned, preferably in special education teaching and/or administrative experience.
• Current, valid Professional Teacher license issued by the Colorado Department of Education with an endorsement in Special Education.
• Must be 21 years old or older.
• Must pass a full background check, including CBI name check, fingerprint check, ICON Colorado court database, Medicare fraud database, reference checks, professional license verification, drug screen, PREA (Division of Youth Services), and Trails check (direct contact with children).
• Must possess a valid, non-restricted Colorado Driver’s License.
• Must travel to training and events in the Denver area and other state facilities.
• Must pass Escape and Evade training.
• Continued employment is contingent upon successful completion of the DYS Pre-service Training Academy and mandatory annual training in all subject areas.
• Former State employees who were disciplinarily terminated or resigned in lieu of termination must disclose that information on the application and explain why the prior termination or resignation should not disqualify them from the current position.

Skills

• Knowledge of effective research-based instructional strategies.
• Understanding of classroom-based behavioral interventions.
• Able to build rapport with students while maintaining boundaries.
• Experience with urban and at-risk populations.
• Content area knowledge and teamwork/cross-curricular collaboration.
• Strong interpersonal and oral communication skills.
• Problem sensitivity and solving abilities.
• Safety and security awareness.
• Technology-enhanced instruction.

Preferred Qualifications

• Dual endorsements or ability to be endorsed in multiple content areas.
• Experience with special needs populations: youth with IEPs, 504s, multilingual backgrounds.
• Experience working with at-risk or adjudicated youth.
• Proficient use of data to inform instructional practices.
• Leadership roles and experience.
• Secondary school experience.
• Trauma-informed practices and knowledge as applied to at-risk populations and classroom instruction.
• Experience with differentiated instruction, developing lessons/curriculum, and providing differentiated instruction.
• Project-based learning experience.
• Previous State experience.