About WestEd

As a community of over 900 researchers, practitioners, consultants, and administrative professionals from all backgrounds and life experiences, we are committed to making a qualitative difference in the lives of youth, children, and adults. We conduct and apply research, develop evidence-based solutions, and provide consulting services across the country in both rural and urban communities to improve equitable outcomes for individuals from infancy through adulthood. Serving as trusted partners in the areas of education, health, and justice, our teams enhance capacity within communities and school districts to prioritize impact — asking the right questions, customizing methodologies, developing relevant tools, and implementing best practices specific to a diverse range of stakeholder needs.

Furthering diversity, equity, and inclusion is core to who we are and how we work. We are committed to working with our clients to illuminate and address disparities, value and elevate diverse voices, and ensure equitable access to our resources and services. Please review our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion on our Careers page at wested.org. Come and join us!

SPECIAL NOTICE REGARDING THE WORK LOCATION OF THIS POSITION—Although WestEd provides the option of working at one of its facilities for employees, many roles allow employees to choose to work remotely for their own convenience. The decision to allow remote work at the employee's convenience is based on the requirements of the position or project in question.

About the Role:

As a research assistant with the Literacy Team, you will work on a variety of education research and evaluation projects in the P-12 literacy space, and across other content areas such as School Choice, Talent Development and Diversity, and others. You will use your knowledge in education policy and applied research to support evaluations of educational programs, services, and interventions in service of educational equity and improvement. You will apply your skills in quantitative methods to collect and analyze data to generate evidence to help policymakers better understand educational needs and challenges. Examples of projects you will support in this role include state literacy policy evaluations, magnet school evaluations, community needs assessments, and evaluations of educational technology. The ideal candidate has demonstrated experience in quantitative analysis, data management, applied research, and project coordination.

CORE FOCUS AREAS

Research and Data Analysis (40%)

• Develop data collection protocols
• Collect, clean, and prepare quantitative data for analysis
• Analyze quantitative data to measure the effectiveness of educational programs and interventions
• Document and visualize research findings
• Summarize qualitative data analyses
• Conduct literature reviews, including identifying and gathering relevant research from reputable sources

Project Planning and Coordination (40%)

• Support the development of project plans and timelines to produce timely, high-quality deliverables
• Build productive working relationships to coordinate shared work and accomplish project goals
• Communicate with study participants and other stakeholders to keep research and evaluation work moving smoothly forward
• Develop and manage IRB documentation and approvals

Dissemination and Outreach (10%)

• Write research and evaluation findings in reports, memos, policy briefs, and presentations
• Create written resources that are appropriate for research or practitioner audiences
• Present research findings

Proposal and Resource Development (10%)

• Contribute to the creation of proposals and outreach efforts that advance the goals of the Literacy Team
• Identify and contribute to the development of new and emerging research and evaluation opportunities that address salient problems of practice

WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR:

To help our research make a positive impact on learners from numerous racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds, we’ll need someone who has:

• Knowledge of educational issues and the needs of education policymakers and practitioners
• Master’s degree in education, public policy, economics, or related field OR bachelor’s degree and working experience equivalent to a master’s degree
• Commitment to supporting equity in education
• Proficiency with statistical analysis software such as Stata, R, or SPSS
• Experience conducting literature reviews and a solid understanding of research methods
• Data management (e.g., cleaning, merging) and analysis skills
• Organizational, time management, and interpersonal skills
• Exceptional written and oral communication
• Comfort with fast-paced, quick turnaround projects and timelines
• Ability to manage multiple priorities efficiently
• Ability to think critically about complex problems, break down those problems into manageable parts, and engage in creative problem solving to achieve practical and efficient solutions
• Ability to travel on a limited basis, in a post-COVID environment

WESTED’S COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION

In our internal efforts to ensure that all staff feel supported and are able to succeed in their professional lives, we have specifically committed to:

• Assuming individual and collective responsibility for building an organizational culture characterized by acceptance, respect, support, and safety for all groups and individuals.
• Creating diverse teams (e.g., by race, ethnicity, gender identity) in all aspects of our work, from responding to RFPs to delivering services.
• Ensuring that staff have equitable access to resources, technology, and opportunities (e.g., to participate in leadership, to engage in professional learning).
• Engaging in equity-focused self-reflection and learning to overcome our own biases in order to build an inclusive workplace.

In our external work, we have specifically committed to:

• Illuminating and addressing disparities by identifying and working to resolve inequities within the systems in which we work.
• Valuing and elevating the diverse voices — including the knowledge, expertise, capacity, and experiences — of those with whom we work, particularly people of color and other historically marginalized groups.
• Ensuring equitable access to WestEd-developed resources and services for diverse communities, including those that are underserved.

• Note: Visa sponsorship is not available for this position. Successful candidates must be authorized to work in the United States.

SALARY AND BENEFITS:

The salary range for this role accounts for multiple factors including but not limited to education; experience; and other organizational needs. A reasonable estimate of the current base salary range, WestEd Level E, is $65,600 - $82,000. WestEd does not typically hire at or near the top of this range. In addition to the base salary, benefits include:

• 15% contribution toward retirement effective day 1 of employment (Example: Total Cash Compensation based on $100K annual salary + 15% ($15,000) = $115,000/yr with WestEd retirement contribution)
• Pre-tax Flexible Spending Accounts
• All health/welfare benefits are effective first of the month following hire date
• PTO: 3 weeks’ vacation (increases to 4 weeks beginning the 4th year of employment) +13 paid holidays / 12 days paid sick leave per year
• Life Insurance: value of 3x gross salary (Example: Based on annual salary of $100K x 3 = $300,000 Life Insurance value)
• Opportunities for annual merit-based performance increases + annual incentives
• Professional development opportunities & mentorship program

For more detail about our benefits, go to:

https://www.wested.org/work-at-wested/benefits/

Committed to the diversity of race, ethnicities, perspectives, and opportunities, WestEd offers a variety of social and professional learning communities, such as Employee Resource groups, the Data Intelligence, Insights, and Innovation PLC, and the WestEd Parent Community, just to name a few. We hope you’ll consider joining us to build better schools, communities, learning pathways, and more! #LI-Remote #LI-Hybrid

Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities

The contractor will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor’s legal duty to furnish information. 41 CFR 60-1.35(c)