Overview
Join AIR as a Principal 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 Principal Researcher with a focus on measurement and statistical, data science, and psychometric methods to oversee the design and implementation of methods across projects. Important aspects of the role will be to serve as a mentor and advisor to staff of various levels in their development and growth related to technical and methodoligcal skills and to support quality of technical work products and service.
Principal Researchers at AIR provide leadership, mentorship, and technical advice in support of AIR research and evaluation projects to ensure research integrity, appropriate design and application of methodologies and analytical techniques, and development of accurate conclusions. In addition, they proactively participate in business development and eminence building activities.
The Principal Researcher would oversee and build the application of quantitative research and data science methods to improve the development, operations, and analyses in large-scale surveys and assessments with an emphasis on (1) improving measures of student performance and measures of relevant contextual variables (2) development of new measures to support federal and state surveys and data collections across a range of content domains; (3) designing research and/or data analysis reports to disseminate findings, expand the utility of the data, and increase audience.
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.
Responsibilities
The responsibilities for the position include:
• Provide strategic thinking, planning, and execution of measurement and assessment research and development tasks. Examples include:
• leading efforts on new approaches and/or technologies in assessment or survey item types, field operations, and measurement and how changes will impact overall assessment or survey program(s);
• working with transactional data (i.e., process data) collected from the students' interactions with with assessment to support improvements in operations;
• leading efforts on measurement for longitudinal studies, vertical scaling, and linking studies across assessments.
• Mentor others through the development of analyses plans for research studies or evaluations and oversee a research team to conduct such studies;
• Provides strategic thinking, planning, and execution of dissemination and eminence building activities such as 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); Serve as and industry leader in measurement;
• Lead technical components for proposal efforts and/or provides quality review of proposals for sound practices, methods, and techniques;
• Effectively coach and manage others to promote their development and growth;
• Foster an environment that embraces diverse perspectives, abilities, racial/ethnic and cultural backgrounds, ages, gender identities and expressions, educational experiences, and life stories;
• Manage medium-size tasks and projects, including: liaising with clients, reviewing deliverables, tracking costs, resource allocation, and overseeing junior analysts conducting quantitative analyses.
Qualifications
Education, Knowledge
Location: Chapel Hill, NC
Posted: Sept. 8, 2024, 7:33 a.m.
Apply Now Company Website