Lead Research Associate - Education Studies
Company: Disability Solutions
Location: Rockville
Posted on: May 18, 2024
Job Description:
Job Description Westat is an employee-owned corporation
providing research services to agencies of the U.S. Government, as
well as businesses, foundations, and state and local governments.
Westat's research, technical, and administrative staff of more than
2,000 is located at our headquarters in Rockville, Maryland, near
Washington, DC.Westat is committed to building a diverse workforce
and a culture of inclusivity, belonging and equity for all. We
believe that our greatest strength draws on the different
backgrounds, cultures, perspectives and experiences of our
employees.Job Summary: Westat is seeking a Lead Research Associate
to join our Education Studies Practice and the Center to Improve
Program and Project Performance (CIPP) team. Your primary role will
be providing critical support to the CIPP Task 5 Team, which
supports Government Performance and Results Act data collection,
analysis and reporting for the U.S. Department of Education's
Office of Special Education Programs. You will also play an
important role supporting overall task management for the CIPP
project. As a Research Associate in education studies you will also
be able to participate in other research/evaluation projects and
support business development activities as your career
progresses.Successful candidates will bring diverse perspectives
and varied experiences (whether from school, life, or past jobs).
We value curiosity, innovation, and systems-level thinking to
contribute to projects that drive improved outcomes for our clients
and internally as well. We are passionate about inclusiveness,
diversity, and cultural competency in the work we do within our
team and in services for our clients.Job Responsibilities:
- Develop instructional materials to support panel reviews.
- Recruit expert panel reviewers.
- Develop guidance to support high quality data submission.
- Support data collection, analysis and reporting.
- Use Smartsheet to monitor implementation of CIPP project
management plan.
- Support the project directors and task leads as needed with
research, analysis and writing tasks.
- Prepare clear and concise briefs/summaries, engaging PowerPoint
presentations, and other products to communicate
needs/information.
- Offer scheduling support and other miscellaneous tasks that are
not time sensitive, such as helping to build dashboards, and
pulling reports from existing data.
- Support communications and dissemination activities, including
social media, blogs, and other thought leadership activities.
- Support meeting facilitation needs at client events both
virtually and in person.
- Contribute to business development activities; other
activities, as required.Basic Qualifications:
- A bachelor's degree with a minimum of 8 years relevant
experience in education, public policy, public administration,
and/or other social science relevant field OR, an MA/MS and a
minimum 2 year of relevant experience at the postgraduate level in
education, public policy, public administration, and/or other
social science relevant field.
- Experience with data collection, analysis, and reporting.
- Ability to summarize and synthesize findings into clear and
concise communications and presentations.
- Ability to prepare engaging presentations using PowerPoint or
other communications/data visualization tools.
- Demonstrated online research skills and ability to conduct
landscape scans and literature reviews.
- Familiarity with training and communications tools such as
WebEx, Zoom, Teams and other web conferencing services.Preferred
Qualifications:
- Proficiency with Project Management Software (for example:
Smartsheet, Trello or other similar platforms).
- Understanding of special education programs.
- Ability to carry out appropriate mixed methods research and
evaluation methodologies including facilitating focus groups,
conducting interviews, conducting literature reviews, and
synthesizing quantitative and qualitative data.
- Ability to use project management tools to track task
completion.
- Ability to prepare training materials to guide data collection
and reporting.Minimum Qualifications:
- Demonstrated communication skills.
- Collaboration with teams, managers and/or clients.
- Organization skills, including time management ability.
- Orientation toward continuous improvement in both personal and
team performance.
- Detail oriented.Westat offers a well-rounded and comprehensive
benefits program focused on wellness and work/life balance. Subject
to plan requirements, employees may participate in:
- Employee Stock Ownership Plan
- 401(k) Retirement Plan
- Paid Parental Leave
- Vacation Leave(15 days per year)
- Sick Leave(10 days per year)
- Holiday Leave(7 government holidays and 2 floating holidays per
year)
- Professional Development
- Health Advocate
- Employee Assistance Program
- Travel Accident Insurance
- Medical Insurance
- Dental Insurance
- Vision Insurance
- Short Term Disability Insurance
- Long Term Disability Insurance
- Life and AD&D Insurance
- Critical Illness Insurance
- Supplemental Life Insurance
- Flexible Spending Account
- Health Savings AccountThis opportunity will be posted for a
minimum of 5 days and applications will be accepted on an ongoing
basis.Westat is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not
discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, religion, sex,
national origin, age, veteran status, disability, marital status,
sexual orientation, citizenship status, genetic information, gender
identity or expression, or any other protected status under
applicable law.
Keywords: Disability Solutions, Eldersburg , Lead Research Associate - Education Studies, Education / Teaching , Rockville, Maryland
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