Case Method Institute for Education and Democracy
Position Description: Executive Director
The Case Method Institute for Education and Democracy (the “Institute” or “CMI”) was formed to bring the highest quality education to America’s high school students—and to fulfill the democratic promise of that education—by empowering teachers to harness the case method in their classrooms. Long recognized as the leading instructional approach in business schools, the case method has now been shown to foster improved critical thinking, a deeper understanding of course material, and greater classroom and civic engagement in high schools across a broad range of students.
In 2015, Harvard Business School launched The Case Method Project, a pilot project designed to explore the viability of the case method in high school settings. Through 2019, the project worked with several hundred teachers from more than 40 states who taught cases on the history of American democracy, reaching a total of nearly 30,000 students in history, government and civics classes. The pilot included teachers from urban, suburban and rural communities, as well as public, private and charter schools, and a student population that closely matched the demographic diversity of the United States. In formal surveys conducted after each case, students and teachers agreed that the case method was a significantly more effective and engaging teaching approach than other traditional approaches.
The success of the pilot led to plans to formally establish the Case Method Institute as an independent nonprofit organization to continue the work of the Harvard Business School pilot, and to aggressively scale the use of case method teaching in high schools. The Institute will commence operations in summer 2020. The Institute will deliver premier in-person and online trainings for high school teachers, combined with continuous ongoing monitoring, coaching, and support, creating genuine partnerships with individual teachers that help them effectively practice the case method in diverse school settings. While this attentiveness to individual teachers has been a hallmark of the pilot to date, and will continue to be a defining feature of the Institute going forward, CMI’s broadest aims are to strengthen American education and democracy by making the case method an attractive and accessible option for all high school teachers and students nationwide.
Over the next ten years, the Institute aims to train at least 10,000 teachers in the case method, creating a network of social studies educators with the capacity to reach millions of young people at a formative time in their development. If the Institute can achieve this scale, it will have the potential not only to powerfully influence education in the United States, but to make a profound and lasting impact on the next generation of American citizens, workers and civic leaders.
Responsibilities and Duties of the Executive Director
As the Institute’s senior executive officer, the Executive Director will manage all aspects of the organization and report directly to its Board of Directors.
Initially, the Executive Director’s chief responsibility will be to evaluate, refine, and execute the Institute’s proposed four-year scaling strategy, which will involve five main areas: promoting awareness of and demand for case method instruction, building supply through expanded teacher recruitment and training, providing ongoing support for all participating teachers, ensuring continued curriculum development of the highest quality, and delivering best-in-class program assessment. More specifically, implementing the scaling strategy will require:
Building an organization that can support significant growth, while maintaining the values of collaboration, excellence, and respect for all of the Institute’s stakeholders.
Building partnerships with teachers, state officials, school and district administrators, charter school networks, teachers’ associations, education nonprofits, and civil society organizations to accelerate the introduction of case method teaching.
Improving the online training platform so that it is capable of effectively training thousands of teachers each year, and expanding the avenues for building community among teachers who are using the case method.
Refining the organization’s approach to teacher support by improving the Institute’s ability to assess the kinds of support individual teachers need, and developing an organization that can deliver that support most efficiently while maintaining the values of respect for and partnership with teachers.
Overseeing new case development, and collaborating with external partners to develop new cases beyond the subject matter expertise of the Institute’s internal curriculum development team.
Building and managing relationships with outside institutional partners and financial supporters of the Institute.
Identifying and pursuing the best options to ensure the continued financial strength of the organization over both the short and the long term.
The Executive Director will work closely with Professor David Moss of Harvard Business School, who conceived of and has led the high school project since its inception. David will continue to serve as CMI’s Chief Strategist, offering partnership on and input into major decisions affecting the organization, and leading key teaching and case-writing efforts. Ideally, David and the Executive Director will reach consensus on important decisions facing the Institute, but final authority will rest with the Executive Director, subject to Board approval.
Qualifications and Attributes of Candidates for the Executive Director Position
The Institute is seeking candidates who are deeply committed to the organization’s mission to improve education and advance democracy, who recognize the vital social role of education, and who evince a deep respect for teachers and the teaching profession. Beyond those core values, a successful candidate will have the following attributes:
An entrepreneurial and flexible approach to problems and challenges, pairing a commitment to excellence with a willingness to think creatively to advance a strategic vision.
Strong organizational skills, including the ability to build structures essential to an effective learning organization, and to manage and motivate people at a high level. Prior senior management experience, especially experience effectively scaling organizations such as nonprofits, small to mid-sized businesses, and startups, is preferable but not required.
The ability to effectively represent the Institute externally to a wide range of constituencies, including educators, donors, and policymakers at the local, state, and federal levels.
Strong interpersonal skills, including a collaborative mindset, humility, an ability to foster a welcoming and supportive work environment, and the ability to inspire a high level of engagement from all employees.
Location
Cambridge, MA
Compensation
Salary for the Executive Director position will be commensurate with professional experience.
To Apply
The Executive Search team at Promise54 is supporting CMI in this search. Review of applications will begin immediately, and continue until the position is filled. For best consideration, submit a resume and letter of interest to Monisha Lozier at
[email protected] by Friday, May 8th .
CMI is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age or veteran status.
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