Professional Practice and Improvement Specialist Job in Fort Buchanan, Guaynab, PR

Vacancy No. NC7X250637717259X Department Department of Defense Education Activity
Salary $124,531.00 to $161,889.00 Grade 14 to 14
Perm/Temp Permanent FT/PT Full-time
Open Date 9/10/2025 Close Date 9/23/2025
Job Link Apply Online Who may apply Status Candidates
Locations:
Fort Buchanan, Guaynab, PR


Summary

About the Position:

This position is located in the Americas Office of the Director, Field Centers for Instructional Leadership, with the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) with duty at Fort Buchanan, Puerto Rico.

Duties

  • Implement and sustain a collaborative coaching approach for district and school leaders to become more reflective practitioners and support their roles as instructional leaders.
  • Provide opportunities to optimize curriculum, instruction, and assessment practices through professional networks.
  • Promote standards-driven instruction, innovative practices and professional growth within professional learning communities.
  • Conduct root cause analysis and identify discrepancies between goals and current status and develop solutions in order to stimulate achievement.
  • Identify training and education gaps, and provide guidance and direction for the development of intervention strategies and professional learning opportunities.
  • Conduct program evaluations using formative and summative assessment tools to ensure quality and degree of implementation, inform continuous improvement efforts, and analyze professional learning needs.
  • Conduct face-to-face, blended, virtual professional development to build capacity of district staff, principals, and teacher leaders.
  • Engage and support district and school leaders in collaborative learning communities to foster continuous learning, productive interaction, and support transfer of the learning to practice.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

  • Male applicants born after December 31, 1959, must complete a Pre-Employment Certification Statement for Selective Service Requirement.
  • Proof of U.S. Citizenship required.
  • Direct deposit of pay is required.
  • Two year trial period may be required.
  • Appointment subject to a suitability/fitness determination, as determined by a background investigation.
  • This position requires a Tier 3 (T3) investigation with Childcare Checks since its duties require interaction with children and youth under the age of eighteen (18) years of age.
  • You will be required to sign a mobility agreement, be available for worldwide placement, and be willing to rotate to any DoDDS or DDESS location.

Qualifications

Who May Apply: Only applicants who meet one of the employment authority categories below are eligible to apply for this job. You will be asked to identify which category or categories you meet, and to provide documents which prove you meet the category or categories you selected. See Proof of Eligibility for an extensive list of document requirements for all employment authorities

  • Current Competitive Service Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) Civilian Employee
  • Current Excepted Service Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) Employee
  • Current Excepted Service Department of Defense Employee
  • Current Excepted Service Employee
  • Current Permanent Department of Defense (DoD) Civilian Employee
  • Priority Placement Program, DoD Military Reserve (MR) and National Guard (NG) Technician Eligible
  • Priority Placement Program, DoD MR and NG Preference Eligible Tech Receiving Disability Retirement
  • Priority Placement Program, DoD Retained Grade Preference Eligible


In order to qualify, you must meet the education and experience requirements described below. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community; student; social). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience; if qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application.

Basic Requirements for Professional Practice and Improvement Specialist:

Education: A master's degree in the field of education is required. The course work must have been completed at or accepted by a regionally accredited U.S. college or university.

***(NOTE: Copies of ALL transcripts must be uploaded, including at a minimum, Bachelors and Masters. EDS and/or doctorate transcripts may need to be submitted as well depending on if these are needed to prove you meet the education requirement. See other supporting documents section for more information.)

And

General Experience: At least 5 years of general experience teaching, educational research, development of curriculum and instructional materials, education assessment and evaluation, professional development, special education, educational administration, or comparable experience which clearly demonstrated success in applying the principles, methods, and techniques of education, and provided familiarity with current developments in teaching, learning, instructional leadership, and professional development. The general experience must have been gained while employed in a K-12 setting or K-12 administrative/headquarters office.

And

Specialized Experience: At least 2 years of specialized experience above school level (district, central office, region, state, etc.) providing coaching and developing/designing professional learning (e.g. Instructional Specialist/Designer) for K-12 district or school leaders/administrators; OR demonstrated school or above school level leader/administrator experience supervising K-12 educators in professional growth and administering and supporting K-12 instructional programs.

*One year of experience is defined as 365 days or 52 weeks of full time experience, whichever comes first.

You will be evaluated on the basis of your level of competency in the following areas:
  • Accountability
  • Creativity and Innovation
  • Education Consultation, Coaching and Collaboration
  • Instructional Delivery and Learner Development
  • Learning and Program Evaluation
  • Oral Communication

Education

Foreign Degrees and Course Work from Non-accredited Institutions. Credits or degrees earned from a foreign college or university must be evaluated prior to acceptance. Three evaluation procedures are acceptable:

1. the work may be evaluated and interpreted by the International Education Research Foundation, Inc., Credential Evaluation Service, Post Office Box 3665, Culver City, CA 90231-3665 or www.ierf.org/ or 310-258-9451.

2. the foreign institution that awarded the degree is on a list endorsed by a regionally accredited university or on a list endorsed by a state department of education for the purpose of teacher certification in that state (this procedure will require an English translation of the transcript and a copy of the document awarding the degree, together with an authenticated list produced by an American university or a state department of education);

and

3. the work may be evaluated by the graduate division of a regionally accredited university and declared the equivalent of similar undergraduate or graduate work in a U.S. institution.

Graduates of non-accredited institutions may have their undergraduate work validated by admittance to graduate school and completion of a minimum of 5 semester hours of credit in a regionally accredited graduate college.

Additional information

  • Selection is subject to restrictions resulting from Department of Defense referral system for displaced employees.
  • Salary includes applicable locality pay or Local Market Supplement.
  • Multiple positions may be filled from this announcement.
  • Be advised that effective Jan. 1 2018, under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, most civilian employee relocation allowances became taxable. The Relocation Income Tax Allowance (RITA) reimburses eligible employees for the additional Federal, State, and local income taxes incurred as a result of receiving taxable travel income. For more information, visit https://www.dfas.mil/civilianemployees/civrelo/Civilian-Moving-Expenses-Tax-Deduction.html.
  • Applicants with a disability who need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application or hiring process should notify, ra@dodea.edu
  • This position is not covered by a bargaining unit.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

Benefits

A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

Review our benefits

Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Once the announcement has closed, a review of your application package (resume, supporting documents, and responses to the questionnaire) will be used to determine whether you meet the qualification requirements listed on this announcement. If you are minimally qualified, your résumé and supporting documentation will be compared against your responses to the assessment questionnaire to determine your level of experience. If, after reviewing your résumé and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and/or experience, you may lose consideration for this position. Please follow all instructions carefully when applying, errors or omissions may affect your eligibility.

Required Documents

The documents you are required to submit vary based on the authority you are using to apply (e.g. applying as a veteran, applying as a current permanent Federal employee, applying as a reinstatement). Please review the following link to see which documents you need to provide to prove your eligibility to apply: Proof of Eligibility.

As described above, your complete application includes your resume, your responses to the online questionnaire, and documents which prove your eligibility to apply. If you fail to provide these documents, you will be marked as having an incomplete application package and you will not be considered any further.

1. Your resume:

  • Your resume may be submitted in any format and must support the specialized experience described in this announcement.
  • If your resume includes a photograph or other inappropriate material or content, it will not be used to make eligibility and qualification determinations and you may not be considered for this vacancy.
  • For qualifications determinations your resume must contain hours worked per week and the dates of employment (i.e., HRS per week and month/year to month/year or month/year to present). If your resume does not contain this information, your application will be marked as incomplete and you will not receive consideration for this position.
  • You should list any relevant performance appraisals and incentive awards in your resume as that information may be taken into consideration during the selection process. If selected, you may be required to provide supporting documentation.
  • For additional information see: What to include in your resume.
2. Other supporting documents:
  • Cover Letter, optional
  • Most recent Performance Appraisal, if applicable
  • Proof of Eligibility to Apply: Your application must include the documents which prove you are eligible to apply for the vacancy. The Proof of Eligibility document describes authorities commonly used in merit promotion recruitment and what document(s) are required to prove you meet the requirements of the authority. You must meet the requirements of at least one of the authorities listed in the Who May Apply section above to receive further consideration.
  • License or Certification: If this position requires a job-related licensure or certification, you MUST submit a copy of your license or certification with your application package or you will be rated ineligible. To determine if this position requires a job-related licensure or certification, please review the Qualifications section listed above.
  • Transcripts: Failure to provide copies of all applicable transcripts will result in disqualification due to incomplete application. You must scan, upload and attach legible photocopies of the following transcripts:
    • Bachelor's Transcript, required.
    • Master's Transcript, required.
    • EDS Transcript. This transcript is required IF it applies to you.
    • Doctorate's transcript. This transcript is required IF it applies to you.
NOTE: Transcripts must include the date and degree was conferred. Transcripts without this information will not be reviewed and will result in disqualification. Your transcripts must clearly identify coursework required for the position you are applying for. Transcripts submitted in other languages other than English must include an official translation or will not be considered. Computer print-outs of transcripts, links to transcripts, grade reports, copies of degree diplomas or certificates, illegible copies of transcripts will not be acceptable. Receipt of these documents will result in automatic disqualification.

NOTE: Documents submitted as part of the application package, to include supplemental documents, may be shared beyond the Human Resources Office. Some supplemental documents such as military orders and marriage certificates may contain personal information for someone other than you. You may sanitize these documents to remove another person's personal information before you submit your application. You may be asked to provide an un-sanitized version of the documents if you are selected to confirm your eligibility.

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.

How to Apply

To apply for this position, you must complete the online questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section above.

The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on 09/23/2025 to receive consideration.

  • To begin, click Apply to access the online application. You will need to be logged into your USAJOBS account to apply. If you do not have a USAJOBS account, you will need to create one before beginning the application (https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12797259).
  • Follow the prompts to select your résumé and/or other supporting documents to be included with your application package. You will have the opportunity to upload additional documents to include in your application before it is submitted. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process.
  • After acknowledging you have reviewed your application package, complete the Include Personal Information section as you deem appropriate and click to continue with the application process.
  • You will be taken to the online application which you must complete in order to apply for the position. Complete the online application, verify the required documentation is included with your application package, and submit the application. You must re-select your resume and/or other documents from your USAJOBS account or your application will be incomplete.
  • It is your responsibility to verify that your application package (resume, supporting documents, and responses to the questionnaire) is complete, accurate, and submitted by the closing date. Uploaded documents may take up to one hour to clear the virus scan.
  • Additional information on how to complete the online application process and submit your online application may be found on the USA Staffing Applicant Resource Center.
To verify the status of your application, log into your USAJOBS account (https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login), all of your applications will appear on the Welcome screen. The Application Status will appear along with the date your application was last updated. For information on what each Application Status means, visit: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/how-to/application/status/.

Agency contact information

Army Applicant Help Desk
Address
DoDEA Americas Region Office
4800 Mark Center Drive
Alexandria, VA 22311
US

Next steps

If you provided an email address, you will receive an email message acknowledging receipt of your application. Your application package will be used to determine your eligibility, qualifications, and quality ranking for this position. If you are determined to be ineligible or not qualified, your application will receive no further consideration.


Note: We cannot accept applications on behalf of Federal Agencies. Application instructions are listed within the Job Description.


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