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Education Program Specialist, GS-1720-14 (ED Only)

Employer
USAJobs
Location
Washington, D.C
Closing date
Nov 27, 2020
Duties

Summary

This position is located in the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), Office of Special Education Programs, Monitoring & State Improvement Planning Division (MSIP), which administers the formula grants under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The MSIP Division ensures full implementation of IDEA through Results Driven Accountability; State Performance Plans/Annual Performance Reports, determinations, and differentiated monitoring and support.

Learn more about this agency

Responsibilities

APPLICATION LIMIT: This vacancy announcement is limited to the first 50 applications received and will close at 11:59PM Eastern Time on the day that we receive the 50th application, or at 11:59PM Eastern Time on the listed closing date, whichever occurs first.

We encourage you to read this entire vacancy announcement prior to submitting your application.

As an Education Program Specialist, GS-1720-14, you will be responsible for the following:
  • Serve as a State Contact and provides leadership through technical assistance and clarification to internal and external customers.
  • Serve as a nationally recognized expert in Part B and/or Part C programs of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Provides leadership and expertise in improving and evaluating the assigned program, develops, tests and applies new program approaches and innovative techniques to better meet the program's goals.
  • Represents the Office in a variety of meetings and conferences.


Travel Required

Occasional travel - Occasional travel may be required.

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
14

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

  • Must be a US Citizen
  • Males 18 and over must be registered with the Selective Service.
  • You may be subject to serve a one-year probationary period.
  • Must complete a Background Investigation and Fingerprint check.
  • Relocation will not be paid.


You must meet all qualification requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this vacancy announcement.

If you are a current federal employee, you must meet all time-in-grade and time-after competitive appointment qualifications within 30 days of the closing date of this vacancy announcement. To verify that you meet these requirements, we will review your responses to the core eligibility questions on the occupational questionnaire, as well as your submitted resume and required documents. To make an accurate determination, you will need to include on your resume your federal position title, pay plan, occupational series, grade level, agency, dates for which you held the grade level (stated as MM/YYYY to MM/YYYY, OR MM/YYYY to PRESENT), and total hours worked per week.

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).

Qualifications

Minimum Qualification Requirements
You may meet the minimum qualifications for the GS-14, if you possess the specialize experience, education, or a combination of the two.

Specialized Experience for the GS-14:

1.Experience presenting at local, state, national and/or regional conferences on the implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) related to infants, toddlers, children and/or youth with disabilities and their families.

2.Experience providing research-based practice technical assistance to administrators of the IDEA program and technical assistance providers.

3. Experience serving as a full-time specialist monitoring the implementation of the IDEA for State, district or institutions of higher education.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs)
The quality of your experience will be measured by the extent to which you possess the following knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs). You do not need to provide separate narrative responses to these KSAs, as they will be measured by your responses to the occupational questionnaire (you may preview the occupational questionnaire by clicking the link at the end of the Evaluations section of this vacancy announcement).

1. Knowledge and understanding of Parts B and/or C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

2. Skills sufficient to conduct in-depth analysis involving complex variables and extend and apply new developments and approaches to broad program problems.

3. Ability to communicate orally.

Education

Basic Requirements

Applicant must meet both specialized experience and basic requirements.
  • Degree: that included or was supplemented by at least 24 semester hours in a field related to the work of the position to be filled, of which at least 9 semester hours must have been in education courses.

  • or
  • Combination of education and experience -- at least 24 semester hours in a field related to the work of the position to be filled, of which at least 9 semester hours must have been in education courses, plus appropriate experience or additional education. The experience must reflect the level and kind described in C below.

  • or
  • Four years of experience that demonstrated a thorough understanding of the principles and practices underlying the work of this series. This experience must have been of such character and diversity to demonstrate that the applicant possesses an understanding of the field comparable to that normally acquired through successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university.

  • or
  • At least 1 full academic year of professional teaching experience. This experience is defined as full and primary responsibility, under general supervision, for instruction of assigned students in an accredited school or institution. This includes responsibility for preparing and presenting lessons and for evaluating students' progress, including a determination of the students' success or failure according to established criteria. Serving in an assistant capacity to a professor without the authority to determine the students' success or failure to meet course requirements does not meet this criterion.

  • Education cannot be substituted for experience for this position and grade level.

    Foreign Education:

    Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet education requirements if you can show that the foreign education is comparable to that received in an accredited educational institution in the United States. It is your responsibility to provide such evidence when applying. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must submit a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, please click Foreign Education .

    Additional information

    Veterans' Career Counseling: If you are a veteran interested in receiving tips on preparing a Federal resume and/or how to prepare for an interview, you may email Iwork@ed.gov to schedule a session with a career counselor ("Veterans Counseling Session" should be placed in the subject line of the email).

    Student Loan Default: If selected for this position, we will verify that you have not defaulted on any loan funded or guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Education. If you are found to be in default, we will contact you to make arrangements for repayment prior to making an official offer of employment.

    Suitability and Investigation: If selected for this position, you will be required to complete the Declaration for Federal Employment (OF-306) to determine your suitability for federal employment and successfully complete a pre-appointment investigation/background check.

    Essential/Non-Essential: This position is considered (essential/non-essential) for purposes of reporting to work during federal government closures.

    Financial Disclosure: This position does not require financial disclosure.

    Telework: This position is telework eligible. At the discretion of the supervisor, generally employees may be authorized to telework one day per week if they are on regular 8-hour work schedule. Teleworkers may participate in some Alternative Work Schedules (AWS) in combination with a Telework Agreement. However, all employees must work from the official worksite location a minimum of four (4) days per work week.

    Bargaining Unit: This position is included in the bargaining unit.

    Selections: Agencies have broad authority under law to hire from any appropriate source of eligibles and may fill a vacancy in the competitive service by any method authorized. We may make additional selections from this vacancy announcement within 90 days from the date the selection certificates are issued, should vacancies occur. We may also share selection certificates amongst program offices across the agency.

    How You Will Be Evaluated

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

    We use a multi-step process to review and evaluate applicants:

    1. Eligibility and Minimum Qualifications
    Once the vacancy announcement closes, we will review your submitted resume and documents to determine if you meet the eligibility and minimum qualification requirements, including any required education, experience, and/or selective placement factors. You will be rated as ineligible if you are outside of the area of consideration (i.e., who may apply) or your application is missing any required documents. You will be rated as not qualified if you do not possess the minimum qualification requirements.

    2. Rating and Ranking
    If you are found to meet both the eligibility and minimum qualification requirements, we will assess the quality of your experience and the extent to which you possess the required KSAs by comparing your submitted resume and documents against your responses to the occupational questionnaire. (The occupational questionnaire is the list of questions in the automated system that you will have an opportunity to answer once you apply for the position).

    Based on the outcome of this evaluation, you will be assigned a numerical score (out of 100 possible). If your responses to the occupational questionnaire are not substantiated by your submitted resume, you may be eliminated from receiving further consideration.

    3. Referral and Selection
    If you are found to be amongst the most highly qualified applicants, you will be referred to the selecting official. As part of the assessment and selection process, the selecting official may invite you to participate in a structured interview, check your references, and/or request that you submit a writing sample or complete a written assessment or exercise to further evaluate your qualifications for this position.

    To preview questions please click here .

    Background checks and security clearance

    Security clearance
    Other

    Drug test required
    No

    Position sensitivity and risk
    Moderate Risk (MR)

    Trust determination process
    Suitability/Fitness

    Required Documents

    You must submit (REQUIRED FOR ALL APPLICANTS):
    • A resume demonstrating your education, experience, training, and accomplishments as it relates to the qualifications for this position and substantiating your responses to the occupational questionnaire.

    Transcript:
    • If you meet the qualification requirements based on education you must submit an unofficial transcript that includes the following information: name of accredited institution, major(s), grades earned, completion dates, and quarter and semester hours earned. Unofficial transcripts are acceptable; however, if you are selected for the position, you will be required to produce the original official transcripts. This also applies to ED employees.

    If you are a current or former federal employee (including current U.S. Department of Education employees), you must also submit:
    • A Notification of Personnel Action (SF-50), which demonstrates your competitive status eligibility. To verify your eligibility, we will review your SF-50 to determine your tenure (block 24) and position occupied (block 34). Examples of sufficient SF-50s include appointments, promotions, within-grade increases, and pay adjustments.

    If you currently hold or previously held a federal position at or above the highest grade of this position or you have/had promotion potential at or above the highest grade of this position, you must also submit an SF-50 documenting your highest grade level held or promotion potential. Examples of sufficient SF-50s include appointments and promotions.

    • A Copy of your Performance Appraisal and Awards, as applicable. Your performance appraisal and awards are requested to further assess the quality of your experience should your application be referred to the selecting official.

    If you are claiming eligibility under the Veterans Employment Opportunities Act (VEOA), you must submit:
    • A copy of your DD-214 that shows active service and character of discharge, member copy 4 (Separated Members only); OR
    • A certification of expected discharge or release from active duty under honorable conditions within 120 days from the date of application (Current Active Duty Members only); AND/OR
    • The Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference (SF-15) AND all documents indicated on the form as proof of type of preference.

    If you are claiming selection priority under Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP), please visit:
    CTAP: http://www.ed.gov/about/jobs/open/edhires/ctap.html
    ICTAP: http://www.ed.gov/about/jobs/open/edhires/ictap.html

    If you are claiming eligibility under any Special Hiring Authority, you must submit:
    • Adequate proof of your eligibility (e.g., Documentation of noncompetitive eligibility as a returned Peace Corps Volunteer, Documentation of noncompetitive eligibility for employment under Schedule A as a person with severe physical disabilities, psychiatric disabilities, and intellectual disabilities.)

    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.

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