Project Description:
The 5-year regional USAID/LAC Reads Capacity Program (LRCP), implemented by the American Institutes for Research (AIR) and Juárez and Associates (J&A) under the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Cooperative Agreement No. AID-OAA-A-14-00058, seeks to increase the impact, scale, and sustainability of early grade reading interventions in the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region. This will be achieved through the development and dissemination of state-of-the-art knowledge resources and the provision of technical assistance to host country governments and other key stakeholders. The program, implemented from 2014-2019, enhances efforts to boost early grade reading outcomes in the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua and Peru, as well as Eastern Caribbean states.
During the 2017-2019 period, LCRP will intensify, deepen, and expand its work in Haiti. The LRCP team will provide technical support which will lead to sustained, systematic improvements in early grade literacy (EGL) capacity in Haiti. The LRCP team will provide technical support by building capacity in curriculum and materials development in the Ministère de l’Éducation Nationale et de la Formation Professionnelle (MENFP), in The Direction de Formation et de Perfectionnement (DFP) whose work focuses on teacher training, higher education institutions, and other education sector stakeholders including national instructional materials creators and printers, thus leading to sustained, systematic improvements in EGL capacity in Haiti.
Position Description:
Working under the direct supervision of the LRCP Technical Manager - Haiti, the Curriculum Specialist will be proficient in French and Créole and will have strong knowledge of developing materials for learning a second language in the early grades. This knowledge includes experience with the development of French and Créole reading and language materials. The Specialist will have a bachelor’s degree (or higher) in education, with specialized training and expertise in early grade reading, bilingual education and/or curriculum design. S/he will work closely with the Instructional Materials Design Specialist, French Specialist and M & E Specialist in Haiti to support work related to Grades 1-4 student textbooks and teacher guides for French and Créole. The Curriculum Specialist will provide direct technical assistance and capacity building in the area of textbook and teacher guide development in Haiti, working closely with MENFP technical staff, LRCP technical staff (including in particular the AIR Literacy Specialists and LRCP Regional EGL Specialist) as well as national partner technical staff and project consultants. The Curriculum Specialist will be based in Port-au-Prince, work on a full-time basis, and be part of the local technical team.

Key Responsibilities
• Provide specialized technical assistance in the review and revision of early grade textbooks and teacher guides to improve reading instruction for French and Créole.
• Help design high quality and appropriately sequenced reading interventions and translate these into high quality materials for EGR in French and Créole.
• Support development of scripted teacher guides and strategies to expand the range and quality of learning materials for improved EGR instruction and outcomes.
• Design pre- and post-assessments for determining instructional content.
• Provide technical guidance and advice to the project team and MENFP.
• Work jointly with the Technical Manager, the LAC Reads Specialists, consultants, AIR and LRCP international experts as needed.
• Provide suggestions to develop new processes, quality standards and increase efficiency of the curriculum development.

Qualifications
• BA or higher degree in Education, preferably with a focus on early grade reading/literacy, and curriculum design
• At least 5 years of experience in designing and producing learning resources in Haiti specifically to improve early grade reading.
• In-depth knowledge in the teaching of reading and writing for bilingual education.
• In-depth knowledge of how to develop scripted lesson plans that are easy to follow for teachers.
• Experience developing curriculum materials that are designed with children’s learning needs in mind.
• Prior experience working with schools to monitor reading outcomes and generate support for reading programs.
• Experience with USAID funded programs or similar donor required.
• Familiarity with USAID’s reading philosophy, methodology and assessment preferred.
• Proficiency in MS Office.
• Fluency in French and Creole (required), and English (preferred).