Virtual Arkansas Online 7-12 Math Teacher

Position Type: Certified

Contract Length: 190 days

About Virtual Arkansas: Virtual Arkansas's mission is to equip, engage, and empower students through unique digital opportunities. As the State of Arkansas's Virtual School (SVS), we partner with local schools to provide course opportunities to students that might not otherwise be available with local resources. Virtual Arkansas is not an online school or a diploma-granting institution, but it serves as a resource for supplementing the education of local students. Virtual Arkansas is implemented through a partnership between the Arkansas Department of Education and the Arkansas Education Service Cooperatives. Virtual Arkansas offers a variety of instructional services, and teachers may be assigned to any of the following service areas, based on organizational needs: Content + Teacher Supplemental, Dedicated/Emergency Use, Division of Youth Services, Alternative Learning Environment, and/or the Learn Anywhere Academy. Additionally, teachers are not able to make course requests but are assigned within their licensure area by organizational need. Virtual Arkansas maintains a comprehensive catalog of courses that were created to fully align with the Arkansas Curriculum Standards or other learning outcomes defined by credit-granting entities, such as Advanced Placement or Institutions of Higher Education offering concurrent course offerings in partnership with Virtual Arkansas. Because of the unique nature of our organization, Virtual Arkansas online teachers also serve as subject matter experts who engage in ongoing curriculum and assessment design tasks aimed at assuring the quality of Virtual Arkansas online courses and the alignment of content, assessments, and instructional practice.

Expectations for Virtual Arkansas Teachers: Adopted in 2023, the Virtual Arkansas Online teacher is evaluated using a unique evaluation instrument. This crosswalk instrument was designed to better articulate the responsibilities of online instructors and to be used by evaluators for use in providing better support to teachers assigned in a variety of learning environments, including online, hybrid, and blended. While the majority of the standards and their components presented in the Crosswalk reflect traditional teacher responsibilities related to instruction, grading, communication, and professional practice, Standard E (NSQOT 2025) specifies expectations that are specific to online teachers and describes their unique responsibilities related to curriculum development and the curation of research-based instructional materials, tools, and strategies found to be effective in an online learning environment.

Standard E: Accessibility and Usability

The online teacher curates and creates instructional materials, tools, strategies, and resources to engage all learners and ensure the achievement of academic goals.

• The online teacher aligns course content with associated learning goals.
• The online teacher incorporates subject-specific resources.
• The online teacher incorporates developmentally appropriate resources.
• The online teacher incorporates resources that are representative of the learners.
• The online teacher designs courses with continuous assessment opportunities.
• The online teacher designs curricular materials that incorporate constructive feedback.
• The online teacher develops a range of assessments.
• The online teacher designs learning experiences that efficiently use technology.
• The online teacher continuously reviews and updates course content.

Virtual Arkansas Instructor Job Summary: The Virtual Arkansas Math online teacher is responsible for following the established curriculum and providing instruction to students in a virtual learning environment. The teacher leverages the capabilities of the digital tools, the Canvas Learning Management System (LMS), the Student Information System (SIS), and the course itself to effectively deliver lessons, assess student progress and learning, provide personalized feedback, and identify students for intervention. The Virtual Arkansas teacher must be adept at engaging students remotely while fostering a positive learning environment and adapting to the unique challenges of digital education. Virtual Arkansas teacher duties and responsibilities are described below and fall into three primary categories: Instructional/Traditional, Curriculum, and Assessment.

Instructional/Traditional Duties and Responsibilities:

• Effectively utilize the Virtual Arkansas technology systems, programs, software, and platforms to perform duties and deliver instruction
• Plan, prepare, and design digital lessons and assignments
• Learn and utilize effective synchronous and asynchronous student engagement strategies
• Monitor and track student attendance to synchronous sessions
• Implement intervention and enrichment strategies based on assessment data and mastery of standards
• Utilize effective and efficient student feedback tools and strategies
• Monitor student progress and respond appropriately to the needs of the students
• Monitor discussion boards and the behavior of students
• Implement effective/efficient communication strategies with students and local digital learning facilitators
• Attend and participate in required professional development, department-level collaborative teams, intervention meetings, and other required meetings
• Maintain availability for students throughout each school week
• Deliver and respond to communications, including emails and messages, promptly
• Collaborate with all stakeholders (e.g. students, parents, colleagues, local school facilitators, supervisors, etc.) to establish and maintain effective professional communication and positive relationships
• Implement ELL, IEP, and 504 goals and accommodations into lessons and assessments
• Maintain a professional home office
• Make occasional site visits to schools to foster relationships with students and school staff
• Complete other duties as assigned, consistent with online, digital teaching

Curriculum/Content Duties and Responsibilities:

• Monitor the digital curriculum and make recommendations for continuous curricular improvement through the established curriculum change/support process
• Assist design team members with the implementation of requested curriculum changes
• Make curriculum change recommendations based on standard revisions or misalignments between standards, content, and assessments
• Create and enhance online content, including the creation of focus and micro-topic videos
• Engage in bi-annual course blueprint maintenance initiatives
• Update course syllabi and pacing guides, and complete course alignment matrices
• Use various simple tools to create small, fun learning objects to improve the interactive aspect of courses (Learning Objects)
• When enrollment numbers do not meet the desired enrollment threshold, engage in more extensive course enhancement projects

Assessment Duties and Responsibilities:

• Design assessment items that are aligned to the Arkansas Curriculum Standards (or other learning outcomes) and that reflect appropriate DOK levels
• Design assessment items that prepare students for success on high-stakes assessments
• Align assessment items to learning outcomes
• Monitor assessment data and student mastery of standards to inform student learning, instruction, curriculum gaps, and assessment validity

Supervisory Responsibilities: None

Required Skills/Abilities:

• Excellent time management skills with a proven ability to meet deadlines and prioritize tasks
• Ability to function well in a high-paced and at times, stressful environment
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Excellent interpersonal, teamwork, and customer service skills
• Proficiency in using digital tools and platforms
• Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Ability to monitor, analyze, and interpret student data to make informed decisions related to student progress
• Desire and ability to learn and adapt to new and emerging technologies and teaching strategies

Education, Experience, and Qualifications:

• Arkansas licensure in the assigned area
• Possess and maintain special certifications as required for assigned courses (i.e., AP)
• Minimum of a B.A. or B.S. required
• Employee must earn the 115/4051 licensure code, Online Teaching K-12, within two academic years of being hired, if applicable. Virtual Arkansas will provide the prescribed program of study and will pay the initial exam fee required to meet the DESE licensure requirements.

Physical Requirements:

• Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer
• Periodic travel requirements
• Sit, stand, walk, stoop, kneel, or crouch
• Use hands to handle or feel, type, and pick up objects, and reach with hands and arms
• Speak and hear to communicate effectively
• Frequently lift and/or move up to 10 pounds and occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds