Today, 67% of students and 82% of low-income students can’t read at grade level by the end of third grade. That’s when students are supposed to go from learning to read to reading to learn. It’s America’s number one education crisis and we know how to fix it.
Ignite Reading delivers one-to-one virtual tutoring that teaches every student the foundational skills they need to become a confident, fluent reader. We pair students who need extra support with expert reading tutors who provide daily, 15-minute, Science of Reading-based instruction that rapidly closes their decoding gaps. We focus on the foundational reading skills—phonics, phonemic awareness, and sight words—kids need to master so they can decode a sentence. Students in Ignite Reading’s program achieve over 2 weeks of reading skills growth per week of instruction, and notably all students achieve the same outstanding results including students with IEPs, multilingual learners, students of color and those receiving free or reduced-price lunch.
Ignite Reading is a mission-driven public benefit corporation. We believe we can do well for our team members and shareholders while we solve one of the nation’s biggest challenges. We believe we will be more successful with a diverse team and are seeking candidates who have lived experience related to social justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Our Mission: Ensure that every child learns to read by the end of first grade.
Your Role
Ignite uses technology to enable the delivery of our virtual tutoring services, maximize the learning of our students, and accelerate our ability to scale. We are preparing to embark on leveraging AI and machine learning to support these technology initiatives.
As our first AI/ML Engineer, you will play a pivotal role in developing and deploying AI-driven solutions that enhance our platform’s capabilities. Below are two specific uses cases we are considering for AI:
- Leveraging machine learning to automate quality assurance monitoring of our tutors. Today, Ignite records every tutoring session for an outsourced team that reviews and scores one video per week for each tutor. We believe this data can form the basis for training a model to do the video review and scoring, thereby enabling us to review every tutoring session and enhancing the impact of this work on the quality of our tutoring.
- Leveraging AI to extend learning beyond the tutoring session. Ignite students currently receive 15 minutes per day of 1:1 tutoring in foundational reading skills. During this time, they are taught a new skill and then practice that skill with their tutor. In order to become fluent in a specific skill, however, students need even more practice. Ignite would like to create an extended learning application that students can use in their classroom or at home that allows them to practice the reading skills they learn each day in their tutoring session. AI would initially be used to serve up skill level appropriate words and texts (decodables), to listen to the student reading those words or texts, and to assess their accuracy and rate. This data would then be provided back to the tutor and our tutoring platform to determine what the tutor should work on with the student the next day.
Responsibilities
- Model Development: Design, develop, and implement machine learning models and algorithms tailored to solve business problems in a B2B2C environment.
- Data Processing: Work with large, complex datasets to extract insights, preprocess data, and develop features that drive model performance.
- Integration: Collaborate with software engineering teams to integrate AI/ML models into production systems, ensuring scalability, reliability, and performance.
- Experimentation: Conduct experiments to evaluate model effectiveness, optimize algorithms, and iterate based on results to improve accuracy and efficiency.
- Innovation: Stay up-to-date with the latest AI/ML trends, techniques, and best practices, and apply them to improve existing solutions or develop new offerings.
- Collaboration: Partner with data scientists, product managers, and other stakeholders to understand business requirements and translate them into technical solutions.
- Performance Monitoring: Monitor and maintain AI/ML models post-deployment, ensuring they perform as expected and adapting them to evolving business needs.
- Documentation: Document models, algorithms, and processes, ensuring knowledge is shared across the team and company..
Qualifications
Education: Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Mathematics, Statistics, or a related field. A PhD is a plus.
Experience:
- 3+ years of experience in AI/ML engineering or data science roles.
- Proficiency in Python, R, or other programming languages commonly used in AI/ML.
- Strong experience with machine learning frameworks (e.g., TensorFlow, PyTorch, Scikit-learn).
- Experience tinkering with LLMs, and utilizing APIs (such as Open AI)
Skills:
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
- Deep understanding of machine learning algorithms, including supervised and unsupervised learning, reinforcement learning, and deep learning.
- Excellent communication skills with the ability to explain complex concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
Attributes:
- Self-motivated with a passion for AI/ML and a continuous learning mindset.
- Ability to work in a fast-paced, dynamic environment and manage multiple projects simultaneously.
- Strong attention to detail and a commitment to delivering high-quality work.
Apply
- If you are passionate about AI/ML and have the skills and experience we are looking for, we would love to hear from you. Please apply with your resume and a cover letter explaining why you are the right candidate for this role.
At Ignite Reading, we’ve decided to embrace a transparent compensation structure for a few reasons:
To promote fairness and equity: This approach supports fairness within our structure. When everyone knows how compensation decisions are made, it reduces the likelihood of pay discrimination based on factors like gender, race, relationships, or negotiation skills.
To provide accountability for our approach: The same role receives the same compensation, with no negotiation.
To build trust within the organization: When employees understand how their compensation is determined, they are more likely to trust organizational structures and decisions, which can lead to overall better culture.
To support legal considerations: Many states are moving to requiring compensation listed on job descriptions and we want to follow these rules.
Salary: $155,000 - $185,000 (This is a full-time, exempt role)
We believe in building and fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace environment. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer where all applicants are considered for employment without attention to color, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status. Research shows that candidates from underrepresented backgrounds often don't apply for roles if they don't meet all the criteria – unlike majority candidates meeting significantly fewer requirements. We strongly encourage you to apply if you’re interested!
We are seeking candidates who have lived experience related to social justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion. We are a virtual organization with headquarters in the California Bay Area.
Top Skills
What We Do
When kids learn to read on time their opportunities in school and life improve profoundly. If a child cannot read by the time they are in third grade, they are four times less likely to graduate high school.* In 2022, only 33% of U.S. fourth graders and 31% of eighth graders were reading at grade level (National Assessment of Educational Progress reading assessment scores). Ignite Reading is on a mission to fix this.
Ignite Reading delivers one-to-one virtual tutoring that teaches K-8th graders the foundational skills they need to become confident, independent readers. We pair developing readers with expert reading tutors who provide daily, 15-minute, Science of Reading-based instruction that rapidly closes decoding gaps. Students across all demographics achieve the same outstanding results–an average of 2.4 weeks of reading skills growth per week of instruction–including students with IEPs, multilingual learners, students of color and those receiving free or reduced-price lunch. By ensuring all students master the foundational skills to fluently read any word, Ignite Reading empowers them to move forward and unlock everything school and life have to offer.
"Ignite Reading is one of the most, if not the most, successful interventions we have implemented in our district. The student results and program design are indisputable."
- Claudia Salvestrin, Assistant Superintendent, Red Bluff Union Elementary School District, CA
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