Researcher- Education Statistics

Join AIR as a Researcher with our Education Statistics team. The mission of our team of experts is to provide statistical evidence that is meaningful, timely, accurate, and trustworthy. Our Education Statistics portfolio focuses on the development, collection, analysis, and communication of international, national, and state statistics. Our primary practice hubs are:

• Measurement and statistics in large-scale surveys
• Standards and assessment

Our Education Statistics team is driven by our mission to make the world a better, more equitable place.

We are seeking a Researcher with a focus on large-scale assessments. The Researcher would apply quantitative research and data science methods to improve the development, operations, and analyses in large-scale assessments with an emphasis on (1) improving measures of student performance and measures of relevant contextual variables; (2) supporting large-scale operations from framework, item development, data collections, and scoring; (3) turning raw data into meaningful information through programming and advanced analytics; (4) building algorithms and designing experiments to merge, manage, integrate, and extract useful data; (5) exploring human-computer language interactions; (6) using machine learning, text analytics, and statistical techniques to produce solutions for complex data issues; and (7) designing research and/or data analysis reports to disseminate findings, expand the utility of the data through linking extant data sources, and increase audience reach. The Researcher is expected to be part of a team to conduct research and development, utilizing data science methods, to advance the research agenda of a large-scale assessment or survey program.        

Candidates hired for the position may work remotely within the United States (U.S.) or from one of our U.S. office locations.This does not include U.S. territories. 

About AIR:

Established in 1946, with headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, AIR is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit institution that conducts behavioral and social science research and delivers technical assistance to solve some of the most urgent challenges in the U.S. and around the world. We advance evidence in the areas of education, health, the workforce, human services, and international development to create a better, more equitable world.

AIR’s commitment to diversity goes beyond legal compliance to its full integration in our strategy, operations, and work environment. At AIR, we define diversity broadly, considering everyone’s unique life and community experiences. We believe that embracing diverse perspectives, abilities/disabilities, racial/ethnic and cultural backgrounds, styles, ages, genders, gender identities and expressions, education backgrounds, and life stories drives innovation and employee engagement. Learn more about AIR's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Strategy and hear from our staff by clicking here.

The responsibilities for the position include:

• Provide input on the strategic thinking, planning, and execution of developing a reseach agenda;
• Support the development of analyses plans for research studies and co-lead a research team to conduct such studies; Aspects of research studies may include:
  • contributing to efforts on evaluating new approaches and/or technologies in assessment design or development;
  • working with transactional data (i.e., process data) collected from the students’ interactions with with assessment;
  • applying advanced knowledge of digital infrastructure, machine learning methods, cloud computing skills, and data mining and their applications in large-scale data sets;
  • developing data quality and quality checking protocols, performing data quality evaluations, and ensuring quality control of deliverables;
  • linking data across sources appropriately;
  • creating new measures or opportunities to extend utility of data;
  • contributing to team efforts to develop and evaluate automated processes intended to meet accuracy and timeliness goals;
  • Additional research study examples related to NAEP can be found here: NAEP Data in Focus: Examining the Research | American Institutes for Research (air.org)
• Document methods for internal and external dissemination;
• Disseminate results of investigations and/or research studies internally (e.g., memos and short oral presentations) and externally (e.g., journal articles, technical reports, and presentations to professional conferences);
• Manage small to medium-size tasks, including: contributing to client meetings, planning and tracking deliverables, and overseeing junior analysts conducting quantitative analyses;
• Provide input for technical sections and budget estimates for proposals;
• Support learning opportunities for junior staff working on large-scale assessment projects.

Education, Knowledge, and Experience:

• PhD in fields as education measurement, statistics, economics, psychometrics, psychology, computer science, or other social science related fields
• Experience in large-scale assessment programs such as the National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP), Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), or a state assessment program
• Experience in analyzing large data sets (preferably with process data or response process data, click stream data, log data, or multimodal data) 
• Experience with R and/or Python
• Experience analyzing complex survey and assessment data, including appropriate handling of plausible values, weights and variance estimation - is a plus but not required
• Experience with computer based testing and/or computer based adaptive testing -  is a plus but not required 

Skills:

• Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to effectively communicate complex research methods and findings with individuals at all levels and from diverse backgrounds
• Strong attention to detail and commitment to rigorous quality control at every stage of data collection, preparation, and analysis
• Excellent organization and time management skills
• Ability and willingness to quickly learn new research methods when necessary

• Strong communication skills with the ability to collaborate effectively with others in a virtual work environment

Disclosures:

Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the U.S. on a full-time basis. Depending on project work, qualified candidates may need to meet certain residency requirements.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without discrimination on the basis of age, race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity/expression, sexual orientation, national origin, protected veteran status, or disability.

AIR adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo reference and background checks.

AIR maintains a drug-free work environment.

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