TITLE: Behavior Support Specialist

WELCOME TO INDIANAPOLIS PUBLIC SCHOOLS!

At IPS, we believe in the transformative power of education. We work collectively every day to prepare our students for success in the classroom and in life by providing equitable, high-quality educational experiences across our family of schools. IPS is a place to make an impact, grow your career, and ensure every student has access to a high quality education, all while earning a good living in a district on the move. While the work is challenging, it is deeply meaningful and impactful. We seek innovators and trailblazers who bring varying experiences and expertise and share our belief that every child deserves access to an exceptional education. As part of TeamIPS, you’ll create lasting connections, find a sense of belonging, and feel supported to make a meaningful difference in students’ lives.

In return, no matter your role here, we expect a commitment to excellence and accountability. You’ll be held to high standards. Resilience and passion are key—you must be adaptable, handling adversity with flexibility while putting students at the heart of everything you do. Ethical conduct, clear communication, and mutual respect are fundamental. Being a dependable, collaborative team player who builds meaningful relationships is essential.

Together, we are Proving What’s Possible by building a community where everyone belongs and each student has the opportunity to fulfill their potential.

A Career in IPS Offers…

Purpose and Impact:

• Essential Contributions: In every non-teaching and non-leadership role, your work directly supports the success of IPS students and schools. Whether you’re maintaining facilities, providing student services, or managing administrative operations, you play a key part in ensuring an equitable and high-quality educational environment.
• Belonging and Community: IPS is a place where every employee is valued. You’ll join a supportive community that promotes respect, teamwork, and a shared commitment to serving students and families.

Professional and Personal Growth:

• Training and Development Opportunities: IPS offers a variety of training programs to help staff build new skills and grow professionally. This includes access to development opportunities for administrative, technical, and operational roles, as well as pathways to becoming a certified teacher.
• Skill Enhancement: Whether you’re new to your role or seeking to deepen your expertise, IPS provides resources and support for continuous improvement.

Comprehensive Compensation and Benefits:

• Fair Compensation: IPS ensures competitive wages and regularly reviews pay structures to maintain equity.
• Extensive Benefits Package: Employees enjoy comprehensive health coverage, dental and vision plans, life insurance, disability insurance, and retirement plans. Additional financial benefits include flexible spending accounts and eligibility for federal loan forgiveness programs.

Work-Life Balance and Well-being:

• Generous Leave Policies: IPS offers vacation, personal, and sick leave, along with paid holidays. Twelve-month employees benefit from floating holidays, and unused personal leave rolls into the sick leave balance.
• Wellness Programs: IPS prioritizes staff well-being with access to wellness initiatives, including health screenings and an employee assistance program for confidential support and counseling.

What We Expect:

• Professionalism and Reliability: Every role at IPS is vital to the district’s success. We expect staff to demonstrate professionalism, dependability, and a commitment to providing excellent service to students, educators, and families.
• Collaboration and Communication: IPS values teamwork. Working collaboratively with your colleagues ensures a supportive environment for all. Clear communication and mutual respect are key to maintaining this culture.
• Flexibility and Problem-Solving: As a large, dynamic district, IPS needs staff who are adaptable and proactive in solving problems to meet the ever-changing needs of students and schools.

JOIN US!

Indianapolis Public Schools is more than a workplace; it’s a community where purpose, impact, and belonging come together to help Prove What’s Possible – in your career and in your school. If you’re ready to embrace challenges, strive for excellence, and make a meaningful impact, IPS is the place for you.

WHO WE ARE:

Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) is a student-focused, innovative educational organization committed to academic excellence. Our mission is to empower and educate all students to think critically, creatively, and responsibly, to embrace diversity, and to pursue their dreams with a purpose. We are a family of excellent public schools in which every student has the opportunity to succeed and the power to create their own future. 

Led by forward-thinking leadership and our commitment to prioritizing students, racial equity, and authentic engagement with our families, team members, and communities, our staff have diverse opportunities to develop their careers in a challenging but rewarding environment. We are an organization for people who are passionate about education and who are committed to the Indianapolis community. 

SUMMARY OF OPPORTUNITY:

The Unified Student Supports team is looking for an experienced educator with special education certification, social work or school counselor certification, or significant experience in growing teachers’ seamless application of positive intervention and behavior supports in the school setting. The Behavior Support Specialist will positively impact student success by addressing barriers to student learning, including but not limited to the social, emotional, and mental health challenges that some students must overcome with the support of skillful practitioners. The Behavior Support Specialist will recommend, plan, coach, and model interventions and supports for school team members (teachers, social workers, etc.) as dictated by students’ needs on their caseload.

WHAT YOU’LL DO:

The following outlines what your core duties and responsibilities will be for this position and provides a sample overview of what your day-to-day may look like.

Core Duties and Responsibilities

• Serve as the first and strongest advocate for racial and ableness equity and student-centered approaches to instruction, intervention, and student engagement
• Demonstrate thorough knowledge of best practices relating to building positive culture and climate in the classroom for all types of learners (to include students with disabilities, students with 504 services, multilingual learners, etc.)
• Effectively support schools with defining and measuring behaviors; understanding principles of reinforcement; analyzing data to identify antecedents and functions of behavior; coaching and modeling positive strategies for weakening inappropriate behavior, and problem-solving to align resources, interventions, and supports
• Analyze data- assessments, attendance, discipline, academics, and other pertinent information - to determine appropriate interventions to reduce suspensions and other disciplinary occurrences while improving student engagement and academic achievement in the general education environment
• Collaborate with school teams during MTSS/Problem-solving meetings to identify students with the most need and recommend appropriate Tier 1 and Tier 2 interventions
• Provide professional development to individual teachers, groups of teachers, and/or entire school staff on issues related to crisis intervention, learning and collaborations, restorative practices, and factors that can affect the development and implementation of interventions and/or student progress
• Maintain records of students served and their progress
• Assist in the collection and compilation of student, parent, teacher, and community data.
• Attend professional meetings
• Discusses pupils' academic and behavioral attitudes and achievements with the teacher.
• Engage in ongoing professional development to increase knowledge and skill of positive student behavior supports for all students and targeted students
• Provide assessment and instruction/intervention at the school-wide prevention level, at the targeted classroom/small group level, and at the individual behavioral/mental health level to address issues that present learning readiness
• Utilize student, school, and community data to plan, identify, and implement evidence-based, culturally competent prevention strategies to meet student needs
• Evaluate multiple datasets (including but not limited to Panorama, attendance, discipline, classroom observation, and the Thinking Skills Inventory) in order to intentionally and strategically respond to student need
• Consults with school staff and parents regarding strategies for helping students cope with personal and social concerns
• Access and link community resources to students, families, and the school in response to identified needs. (Note: To accomplish this responsibility home and agency visits are required.)
• Ability to problem-solve, support, and model behavioral systems, processes, and strategies 
• Ability to work collaboratively with teachers, building leaders, and USS members 
• Experience in aligning teachers’ systems and processes to student outcomes in order to translate the critical connection for teachers engaged in the coaching cycle
• Ability to relate, motivate, and inspire teachers to strive to new heights
• Provide weekly updates to USS admin on coaching data to inform systematic professional development (for the district, LC, or school) 
• Communicate effectively, and in a timely manner, with school staff, parents and guardians, USS and district staff
• Support with student transitions (bridging) and transition planning  
• Work with building leadership to discuss, strategize and problem solve trends in discipline and/or climate and culture classroom level data to support teachers’ use of research-based interventions and data-response
• Ensure MTSS is the backbone of all coaching, intervention planning and monitoring, strategic data response, etc.
• Advocate for and model strong school-family partnerships to ensure students have as few barriers to achievement as possible
• Consistently contribute to a positive team culture by being direct and transparent and helpful and collaborative, while prioritizing a customer service orientation
• Other duties as assigned by the USS administrative team and/or building administrators

“Day In the Life” Overview

On a regular day, as the Behavior Support Specialist, you might:

School Behavior Assistance 

• Responding to and providing immediate support to general education students and teachers in moments of support for behaviors during the school day.
• Behavioral Specialist 1 provides support to the Intensive Intervention (II) students and Behavioral Specialist 2 provides support to general education students and special education students with LRE 50 and 51.
• Support could look like (talking with students struggling, going for a walk with them, checking on them during the day, brain break, removal from class *if needed, and escorts to the office.)

General Education/ SPED Educational and Behavior Support

• Providing support to Sped students in the general education setting. Assisting them with behavioral challenges as they present themselves (calming down, staying focused, going for walks, removals *if needed.)
• Providing educational support to Sped students and general education students as needed. Responsibilities may include the following but not limited to (organization, work completion, small group work, individual/ 1v1 support, and note taking
• Taking behavior and educational notes for TOR for documentation (data tracking).

Social-Emotional Lessons

• On a monthly/ or bi-weekly basis visit each Intermediate classroom and give a social-emotional lesson to the entire class.  
• Whole class discussions, pairing work, and scenario walkthroughs. Each lesson builds off the previous lesson and follows the SEL lesson book.
• Collaborating with school social workers and other behavioral specialists on Social Story Lessons for small groups or whole classes, if needed.

WHAT YOU’LL BRING: SKILLS AND MINDSETS

As an ideal candidate for this role, you will be able to achieve the following: 

• Highly-developed communications skills (written/verbal) and interpersonal savvy  
• Results/action-orientation; project management skills  
• Racial equity mindset and other critical indicators related to DEI 
• Organizational agility; developed negotiation skills  
• Unquestionable personal code of ethics, integrity, diversity, and trust  
• Able to successfully navigate within varying degrees of ambiguity in a fast-paced environment 
• Strong strategic analysis skills 
• Ability to be creative in developing alternatives to meet students’ instructional needs
• A track record of developing and maintaining strong working relationships with and among a diverse group of actors
• Close attention to detail coupled with the ability to exercise good judgment 
• Proactive nature; able to anticipate conflicts before they arise 
• Ability to work well independently as well as collaboratively 
• Ability to execute meetings, calls and emails with professionalism, courtesy and accuracy 
• Personal qualities of maturity, humility, strong work ethic, sense of humor, and diligence 
• Ability to effectively allocate and prioritize time to several tasks to ensure completion of all

EDUCATION

Certification or ability to be fully certified by the Indiana Department of Education 

Candidates may be licensed in school counseling, school social work, special education, or have a similar experiences in another IDOE approved area of licensure

5 to 7 years of experience as a skillful practitioner and evidence of the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to execute this role at a high level

Working knowledge of federal and state special education and 504 laws, rules, and practices including IDEA and Article 7

REQUIREMENTS

• Certification or ability to be fully certified by the Indianan Department of Education
• Candidates may be licensed in school counseling, school social work, special education or have a similar experience in another IDOE approved area of licensure.
• 5 to 7 years of experience as a skillful practitioner and evidence of the knowledge, skills and abilities required to execute this role at a high level

FLSA CLASSIFICATION: 

Exempt

ELIGIBILITY FOR REMOTE WORK:

Not eligible

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:

The physical requirements described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. 

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to use hands to finger, handle, or feel; talk or hear. The employee frequently is required to stand and walk. The employee is occasionally required to sit; reach with hands and arms; and stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 10 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus. 

EEOC STATEMENT:

Indianapolis Public Schools, in accordance with its nondiscrimination policies, will not discriminate in its programs, facilities, or employment or educational opportunities on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, national origin or ancestry, sex, age, physical or mental disability, pregnancy, veteran or military status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, familial status, domestic violence victim status, homelessness or any other legally-recognized protected basis under federal, state or local laws, regulations, or ordinances. Indianapolis Public Schools does not tolerate any form of retaliation or bias-based intimidation, threat, or harassment that demeans individuals’ dignity or interferes with their ability to learn or work. 

DISCLAIMER:

Essential functions, as defined under the Americans with Disabilities Act, may include any of the above representative duties, knowledge, and skills. This job description is illustrative only, and is not a comprehensive list of all essential functions and duties performed by the occupant of this position. Factors such as regular and punctual attendance are not routinely listed in job descriptions but are an essential function.