Learning Specialist, Alpha - $120,000/year USD

• On-site at an Alpha campus 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/year salary, paid weekly. Comprehensive health, dental, and vision benefits from day one
• Daily integration of AI-powered adaptive learning tools and technology-enhanced instruction

You know that 20 minutes of precisely targeted reading instruction delivers more impact than 90 minutes of scripted lessons, and your student outcomes confirm it. You've seen children overcome phonics barriers because you identified the specific gap yourself—not because a predetermined program dictated the next step. If building your own lessons from live student data feels empowering rather than burdensome, this opportunity is for you.

Alpha's reading instruction operates on one core principle: every minute counts. Your 20-minute workshops center on each student's actual needs rather than what a standardized pacing guide prescribes. You'll evaluate reading proficiency, organize focused groups, and provide high-impact structured literacy instruction (phonics, fluency, comprehension) to 4-7 year olds that produces measurable weekly progress. AI-powered adaptive platforms work alongside you, delivering performance insights you'll apply to refine the next day's lesson before the current session concludes.

This position evolves. During your first year, you're fully immersed in classroom instruction: facilitating workshops, leading motivational activities that transform hesitant readers into enthusiastic learners, and providing detailed observations to the technology team enhancing Alpha's AI literacy platform. As these tools expand and your input shapes their development, your influence reaches beyond your immediate students. You'll contribute to building a reading system that functions across multiple campuses, scaling what you accomplish with 15 children into a framework serving hundreds.

If you've dedicated your career to demonstrating that structured literacy delivers results and you're prepared to combine that knowledge with technology that extends your reach, this is where your influence transcends classroom boundaries.

What You Will Be Doing

• Creating and facilitating 20-minute reading workshops based on your own diagnostic evaluation of each student's reading proficiency and skill gaps
• Leveraging AI-generated student performance insights to modify groupings and instructional focus between sessions rather than only at quarterly intervals
• Facilitating motivational activities that cultivate intrinsic reading enthusiasm through age-appropriate gamification and personalized goal-setting with K-2 learners
• Piloting and assessing AI literacy platforms during live workshops, then delivering structured feedback to the technology team regarding effectiveness and areas for improvement
• Monitoring measurable progress (fluency growth, decoding advancement, accuracy enhancement) and applying insights to adjust your methods weekly

What You Won’t Be Doing

• Implementing a scripted or packaged reading curriculum. You identify needs and create instruction independently.
• Delivering 60-90 minute lecture-format literacy blocks. Sessions are brief, targeted, and high-intensity.
• Working exclusively with struggling readers. You'll provide instruction to all K-2 students across varying reading abilities.
• Functioning separately from technology. AI adaptive platforms are integral to your daily practice, not an occasional supplement.
• Waiting for quarterly data cycles to modify your approach. You make real-time adjustments based on current data.

Learning Specialist Key Responsibilities

Advance early elementary students to grade-level reading proficiency through adaptive, AI-enhanced structured literacy instruction.

Basic Requirements

• Bachelor's degree (any subject)
• Master's 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, using systematic phonics or structured literacy
• Capability to design your own reading lessons and articulate what you teach and how, without depending on a published program
• Availability to work in-person 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 available)
• Readiness to incorporate AI and adaptive learning tools daily and adjust as platforms develop
• Legally authorized to work in the U.S. without visa sponsorship

Nice-to-have Requirements

• Experience with diagnostic reading assessments (e.g., DRA, DIBELS, AIMSweb) for creating differentiated groups
• Documented record of measurable student reading progress you can articulate with specific data (e.g., advanced 12 students from Level C to Level G in one semester)
• Background partnering with edtech teams, product teams, or instructional designers on platform development
• Experience in a startup, micro-school, or non-traditional educational setting where you developed systems rather than implemented them

About Alpha

Want to join a learning rebellion that’s transforming the traditional classroom?

Alpha School is on a mission to reshape education with a bold approach that harnesses AI to accelerate learning and unleash student potential.

They don’t play by the old rules.

Alpha is creating a new paradigm where students master core academics in just two hours a day, freeing up time for hands-on, passion-driven learning that truly prepares them for the real world.

Alpha School is rewriting the rules of education.

Sounds too good to be true? It’s not.

There is so much to cover for this exciting role, and space here is limited. Hit the Apply button if you found this interesting and want to learn more. We look forward to meeting you!

Working with us

This is a full-time (40 hours per week), long-term position. The position is immediately available and requires entering into an independent contractor agreement with Crossover as a Contractor of Record. The compensation level for this role is $60 USD/hour, which equates to $120,000 USD/year assuming 40 hours per week and 50 weeks per year. The payment period is weekly. Consult www.crossover.com/help-and-faqs for more details on this topic.

Crossover Job Code: LJ-5632-US-Philadel-LearningSpecia.001