Why You’ll Love Working with Us

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• Purpose-Driven Impact: You’ll partner with talented family child care educators and help children light up with “aha!” moments. Watching providers transform into confident teachers (and seeing kids thrive) is our daily reward.

• Innovative Culture: We’re not your average education agency or nonprofit. Think of us as a lean, nimble virtual school district—where big ideas meet home-based classrooms. You’ll be a key player in shaping how we support early childhood educators statewide. In six years, we've built a nonprofit from scratch, and designed/built the country's first and only three year training program designed to build great PreK programs in family child care homes.

• Collaboration + Autonomy: Expect to brainstorm with a passionate team, tackle projects together, and occasionally make on-the-spot decisions when the group agenda moves at, well, "group speed." (Hint: the ability to see the path when others can’t is a bonus!)

• Growth & Learning: We believe in continuous improvement—for providers, children, and staff alike. You’ll deepen your skills in high-quality PreK practices, data-driven reflection, and change management.

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What You’ll Do (AKA Your Day-to-Day)

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• Co-Design Coaching Goals

  • Kick off each coaching cycle by teaming up with educators to set annual or semester goals. You’ll use data points—Growth Rubric scores, IQR observations, lesson-plan artifacts, classroom snapshots—to pinpoint strengths and growth areas.

  • Co-create action plans so coaches and educators stay on the same page (no surprise “to-do” lists!).

• On-Site & Virtual Visits

  • Schedule and conduct 60–90 minute classroom visits (with PreK children in action). Plan your calendar 2–3 months in advance—then gear up for drives anywhere from 10 minutes up to 2 hours* each way. (*We try to keep those to a minimum, with our goal of 45 minutes maximum as the organization adds more coaches.)

  • During visits, complete assessments (CLASS, GOLD, Creative Curriculum), observe instructional strategies, and capture photos/videos of teaching exemplars to share with the cohort.

  • Model high-impact practices live, build educator confidence with specific compliments, and offer tailored coaching moves—think “Here’s one tweak that could make transitions smoother.”

• Structured Reflection & Documentation

  • After each educator visit, lead a one-hour reflection session with the educator. Review what went well, where to level up, and set next steps—using Growth Rubric language and IQR protocols.

  • Keep all your notes in the org’s documentation system so we can use them for future research into the effectiveness of our coaching model.

  • Track cohort-level data: monitor child outcomes alongside educator growth. Celebrate when providers start calling themselves “teachers” or “educators” (not just “caregivers”).

• Curriculum & Assessment Expertise

  • Guide educators in using approved PreK curricula and assessments (Creative Curriculum, Teaching Strategies GOLD, CLASS observations, etc.). Offer resources, co-plan lessons, and troubleshoot challenges.

  • Use data—observation scores, assessment results, and anecdotal evidence—to fuel all coaching conversations. You’re the data whisperer who turns numbers into meaningful next steps.

• Project-Based Collaboration

  • Pitch in on team projects: contribute to program assessments, coach-team meetings, and special initiatives (think: designing a new training module or refining our coaching protocols).

  • Embrace iterative group discussions (yes, we believe “feedback is a gift,” even if it sometimes feels like gift wrap). When consensus lags, be ready to make independent calls and keep things moving.

  • The Alliance is keen on piloting and testing models to advance the field. So if you like building something new (on a regular basis!), then we are the right place for you.

• Change Management & Relationship-Building

  • Recognize that change takes time. You’ll need patience (really, buckets of it) as educators gradually adopt new practices. Use modeling, peer examples (photos/videos), and data to guide shifts rather than expecting overnight transformations.

  • Build trust and rapport—celebrate educator wins and empathize when things get sticky. Your ability to juggle empathy, clarity, and accountability sets you apart.

• Caseload & Travel Logistics

  • Manage a caseload of roughly 10–15 family child care educators. Plan for about 20 site visits per month—plus prep and reflection time, which can happen in your car, at home or in the coffee shop.

  • Be ready to pivot if an educator’s schedule changes last-minute (yes, sometimes life happens at home…). Flexibility keeps our program running smoothly.

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Who You Are (Must-Haves)

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• Bachelor's degree or higher in early childhood education, child development, or a related field.

• Mobility in Maryland: Weekly travel in the state of Maryland is a requirement of the job so reliable transportation is a must.

• Early Childhood Expertise: You’re fluent (or eager to become fluent) in CLASS, Teaching Strategies GOLD, and Creative Curriculum. You understand developmentally appropriate PreK practices and can translate research into real-world coaching moves.

• Change-Agent Mindset: You thrive on helping adults shift habits. “Patience” is your middle name. You use data, modeling, and peer exemplars to spark change—and you celebrate small wins along the way.

• Tech-Savvy Communicator: You’re comfortable juggling Slack, email, text, and other platforms. Posting detailed notes, sending visit reminders, and uploading multimedia artifacts aren’t “extra”—they’re part of your daily workflow. You’re already using AI and/or you are excited to learn more about it.

• Organized Multi-Tasker: You can balance site visits, follow-up reflections, data tracking, cohort communications, and team projects without dropping the ball. Your calendar is your best friend.

• Collaborative & Autonomous: You love brainstorming in a team, but when group consensus stalls, you can take ownership—making practical decisions to keep momentum. You embrace a role that’s always evolving and most importantly, you play well with others!

• Relationship Builder: You connect quickly with educators, earn trust, and offer feedback that feels caring (not condescending). You know that coaching is as much about listening as it is about instructing.

• Reliable with a Smile: You show up, rain or shine (or snowstorm, just kidding!), and approach each day with positivity. Children’s laughter and educators’ “light-bulb” moments motivate you.

• Reliable Internet Service: A lot of our work is on Zoom, so reliable internet service is a must-have.

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Bonus Points If You Have

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• A background in family child care or small-group preschool settings (we know FCC is a special delivery model!).

• Experience using video or photography to document teaching practices.

• Familiarity with Maryland’s QRIS/EXCELS quality standards.

• Fluency in English and one or more other languages.

• Live within easy access to sites on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

• Have an affinity for technology, particularly AI or web technologies.

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What We Offer

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• Full-time position, open immediately.

• Compensation: Salary range, $59,000-$64,000. We know gas isn’t cheap, so we’ve got you covered.

• Comprehensive Benefits: Generous health, dental, vision, disability insurance, life insurance, a flexible leave policy and a retirement option, because taking care of kids starts with taking care of you.

• Flexible Work Structure: Since the beginning, we’ve been a virtual company. Home is your home base. There is no office to show up at. Your calendar will be full—but you decide whether reflection notes happen in a coffee shop or on your couch.

• Vibrant Team Culture: We celebrate awkward Zoom backgrounds, share bad dad jokes in Slack, and genuinely care about each other.

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If you want to learn more about the ASPIRE PreK program, check out www.aspireprek.org. 

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