Senior Research Associate

Senior Research Associate
K-12 Education

MDRC is seeking a Senior Research Associate with expertise in evaluating strategies to improve the academic outcomes of low-income students. MDRC’s is working with school districts across the country to conduct path-breaking studies of educational reforms for the federal government and private foundations. Our project portfolio focuses on strategies to improve reading and math instruction in the early elementary grades, high school reform (with a special focus on initiatives to help students entering high school with low skills), and teacher and principal professional development efforts throughout the K-12 system. This body of work places MDRC at the forefront of research on reforms to improve teaching and learning in elementary schools and in structural and instructional reforms in high schools. We are positioned to provide vital information to policymakers and practitioners, who are an eager audience for our findings. In addition, we are at the cutting edge of efforts to develop new methods to study program implementation and impacts on teacher practice and student achievement, from the fielding of random assignment designs in new settings, to the use of regression discontinuity designs, to the use of instrumental variables to understand our implementation and impact findings.

Our K-12 Education Policy Area is staffed by approximately 20 individuals with quantitative and qualitative research skills, a dedication to conducting rigorous research that is useful to practitioners and policymakers, and a commitment to working in a collegial team environment. One hallmark of our group is a blending of research and practitioner perspectives, with many staff having previously worked as teachers and/or administrators in the K-12 system. We typically undertake studies that include both an analysis of program implementation and impacts (rather than just implementation-only studies) and use rigorous research designs (especially but not exclusively random assignment) that allow us to zero in on the causal links between reforms and changes in student performance.

MDRC nurtures the best work of researchers by offering them:

• A commitment to rigorous research that brings together diverse teams of scholars to ask and answer pressing academic and policy questions.
• The opportunity to develop cutting-edge solutions to current challenges in program evaluation.
• Support for interdisciplinary and cross-institutional scholarship.
• Publication in peer-reviewed journals and dissemination of results to policy audiences.
• A strong tradition of staff collaboratively setting our research agenda.

Within MDRC, leading social scientists from a broad range of disciplines, including education, child development, economics, sociology, and public policy, work closely together. The result: use of diverse methods, development of theories that reflect a variety of viewpoints, and a cross-fertilization of ideas that makes MDRC a center of rich dialogue on key social policy issues. As another source of professional growth, senior MDRC staff and university collaborators mentor scholars on our research team who are early in their careers. Outside experts often serve as both advisors to our studies and coauthors of scholarly publications with MDRC staff.

Qualifications:

• A PhD in education, public policy, psychology, economics, or related quantitative social science.
• Knowledge of and experience with quantitative research design and analytic methods.
• Expertise in education policy and programs.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Publication record or experience demonstrating a capacity to provide leadership in developing the research agenda of this policy area.

The successful candidate can be based in either MDRC’s New York or California office. Salary will be commensurate with experience. Comprehensive fringe benefits offered.