Research Associate - Office of Research and Accountability

JOB TITLE: Research Associate

REPORTS TO: Director of School and Student Performance, Office of Research and Accountability

LOCATION: Worcester Public Schools, Worcester, Massachusetts

ACCOUNTABILITY OBJECTIVE: The Research Associate role is about providing data collection, processing and management support to the team members in the Office of Research and Accountability (ORA). The Research Associate will work with district staff, school leaders and educators to support the administration of the district's large scale data collection efforts, support data analysis and report writing efforts, and support data governance-related tasks such monitoring student data privacy agreements. As a member of the ORA team, you will be involved in work that generates insights for district and school leaders to make data-informed decisions as we collectively work to improve student outcomes.

The Office of Research and Accountability serves the Worcester Public Schools by conducting an ongoing program of assessment, research, and evaluation, with the purpose of creating actionable information for decision makers. The Research Associate will support this mission by working with the Director of Research and Accountability and other district staff to generate insights that will inform district and school actions. The Associate will also support the ORA with various data related tasks.

PRINCIPAL RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Execute tasks associated with the administration of district and state assessments and surveys including rostering, obtaining compliance documentation, monitoring data collection efforts, and troubleshooting.
• Conduct preliminary statistical operations to clean and organize large data sets.
• Assist with data governance related tasks such as ensuring products have student data privacy agreements and monitoring usage.
• Oversee the application process for conducting research in the district and perform initial reviews of all new applications.
• Generate literature reviews and write summaries from relevant sources.
• Create slide decks from findings for various audiences.
• Periodically gather data from relevant sources and prepare data for analysis.
• Prepare drafts of written reports and oral presentations on research findings, conclusions, and recommendations, including with tables, charts, and other graphical representations of data.
• Support the office with miscellaneous administrative duties, including but not limited to: payroll, requisitions, event management, etc. Other duties as assigned.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university, specializing in the fields of education, psychology, sociology, computer science, data science, or statistics.
• Experience with data processing, cleaning, entry, and analysis.
• Extremely strong attention to detail.
• Strong customer service orientation, responding to the needs of schools and other district departments in a timely manner.
• Demonstrated evidence of problem solving, critical thinking, analytical thinking, and planning and organizational skills.
• Experience with the Microsoft Office suite of products or their equivalents (i.e., Google).
• Commitment to team-based work environment, and cultural humility, equity, and inclusion.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Experience in a K-12 education system
• Experience in the use of common statistical and data-related programs: SPSS, R, Python, SQL, etc.
• Practical experience engaging with the scientific research process.
• Familiarity with the principles of ethical research practices in the social sciences.

WORK YEAR: This is a full-year position.

WORK DAY: The general work schedule is Monday-Friday, 8:30-4:30, with occasional flexibility as needed.

POSITION TYPE/SALARY: This is a non-represented, FLSA non-exempt position subject to the non-represented employee benefits package. The salary range for this position is from $75,000 to $82,688.