Researcher at Equal Opportunity in Schools - Seattle, WA
Oct 13, 2017
Researcher at Equal Opportunity Schools
Equal Opportunity Schools (EOS) is an education not-for-profit organization dedicated to changing lives and narrowing the achievement gap by addressing inequity in our schools, especially among students who are Latinx, African American, or low-income. Our work focuses specifically on equitable access and success in Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) classes. Visit our website to learn more about the exciting work we do! We are seeking a talented Researcher to join our growing, continuously improving, high-impact, mission-driven organization.
As part of the Effectiveness and Learning team, the Researcher will work to meet an exciting variety of needs at EOS. Specifically, our team works passionately and creatively to maximize learning both internally and externally. Using a Continuous Improvement framework, we seek to implement rapid tests of change in order to quickly learn how to improve our internal functions and external programming. Internally, our work focuses on understanding our organizational impact, supporting the learning needs of other teams and departments, and helping to establish learning communities. Externally, we work with our partners to learn from students’ experiences in AP and IB classes, identify barriers to positive experiences that students of color and low-income students experience in those classes, and help schools cultivate environments that foster feelings of belonging and successful student experiences in AP and IB classes.
As a member of the Effectiveness and Learning team, the work we’ll take on together in the coming year will include the following kinds of projects and activities:
- Pilot improvements to organizational impact based on insights from survey data, enrollment updates, and student achievement results from our hundreds of school partners.
- Conduct analyses to understand what practices are most effective for recruiting students to take an AP or IB class for the first time.
- Prepare and delivering workshops to help teachers improve AP and IB classroom experiences for students of color and low-income students (think cultivating belonging, fostering learning mindsets, and reducing stereotype threat).
- Evaluating and improving metrics for better understanding longitudinal change in school climate, equity, and student pathways as a result of our work.
- Facilitate cross-departmental meetings for Continuous Improvement projects.
- Consult with colleagues about how they can best engage in data collection and measurement toward their own improvement goals
- Stay on top of the latest research in educational equity, school change, the science of learning, and development in cultural contexts to analyze and improve belonging interventions for staff and students.
- Conduct and analyze interviews, focus groups, and case studies to better understand the experiences of students of color and low-income students taking an AP or IB class for the first time.
- Participate in professional development opportunities. Past and likely future opportunities include technical training in data visualization or survey administration platforms, or more content-driven trainings in Continuous Improvement and trainings hosted by racial equity organizations.
We offer:
- A vibrant organization filled with incredible colleagues. We are a diverse, fun, and above all passionately committed group of folks.
- Opportunities for teaching and learning. Although you won’t be in a classroom, you’ll often be teaching, and more often learning.
- Mission-driven passion. We believe in students, their teachers and their schools. We care deeply.
This job might be for you if:
You are committed to equity. You steadfastly believe that all students – particularly students of color and low-income students – should have opportunities to access and succeed in the most academically rigorous high school programs. You understand that working for equity is a continual journey and you are motivated by a passion for that journey.
You enjoy working collaboratively with others. You recognize that working with a diverse team of individuals with varying roles and skills can be challenging, but you enjoy this challenge. You work to find creative solutions to best fit a wide range of contexts, needs, uses, and timelines.
You balance critical analysis with an action orientation. You bring a data-driven lens to your work, and can critically examine a problem, relevant data, and possible solutions. At the same time, you are not weighed down by this critical lens but find ways to forge a productive, solution-oriented path forward.
You are experienced in bridging research and practice. You have prior experience designing and conducting applied research. You love the challenge of conducting rigorous research that can contribute directly to the building of equitable learning environments in the often messy and unpredictable reality of the public high school.
You communicate clearly with diverse audiences. You enjoy sharing data and research findings with many stakeholders, from teachers to superintendents to academic audiences. You can distill research findings to clear takeaways and use those to inspire action.
You love to learn and grow. You are always looking to improve and to develop new skills, and welcome constructive feedback that helps you get there. You’re excited to learn from other perspectives that will inform your thinking, and to contribute to others’ learning.
You are comfortable working in a dynamic, growing organization. Equal Opportunity Schools has experienced incredible growth and success in our 6+ years of existence, but we don’t have it all figured out. You’re excited to take on the challenges that come with relatively young data systems, evolving internal systems and structures, and long-term visions that are still works in progress.
To join our team, you need to be an experienced applied researcher with expertise in either qualitative or quantitative data analysis; mixed methods experience is preferred (MA / PhD or commensurate experience). You should be equally comfortable working as part of a multi-layered team as you are working alone on a delegated project. It is helpful if you have: experience with continuous improvement or improvement science, networked improvement communities, or action research; a deep understanding of educational equity, youth development, and learning science; comfort with Tableau, SPSS, or R data analysis tools; experience working in public schools; experience turning research into practice; and willingness to travel on occasion (not to exceed 20%).
Equal Opportunity Schools is an Equal Opportunity Minority / Female / Individuals with Disabilities / Protected Veteran and Affirmative Action Employer. Equal Opportunity Schools considers for employment and hires qualified candidates without regard to age, race, religion, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, protected veteran or disability status or any factor prohibited by law. Equal Opportunity Schools provides reasonable accommodation for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans in job application procedures and/or process.