Senior Research Associate, Assessment Unit, ASER

Job Description

 Position Summary:
The Senior Research Associate will be responsible for all aspects related to designing educational assessments and
frameworks pertaining to various projects of the Assessment Unit. The role may additionally involve project management
duties which include setting and delivering on project timelines and milestones, and coordinating closely with various
units at ASER and Pratham and/or external clients/donors.

Key Responsibilities:
1. Design and development of assessments
? Lead the development of the assessment frameworks, theory of change, and technical report through extensive
literature review and field pilots
? Development of simple, standardized, yet discriminating items/assessment tools to check children?s knowledge
and skills for various programs in different languages report through extensive literature review and field pilots
? Translating and validating items and content to enhance the quality of the assessment tool
2. Development of training material and plan
? Guide the creation of print and audio-visual material for training of trainers and volunteers
? Create detailed training plans for different levels of training
? Oversee the regional translations of training material
3. Planning and implementing at scale
? Identify resource requirements for projects and allocate them adequately
? Create a plan, timeline, and budget for the assessment roll-out from literature review to implementation
? Troubleshoot problems during assessment roll-out
4. Data interpretation and report writing
? Explore different interpretations and visualizations of collected data
? Coordinate report writing and designing process, and review and edit reports as needed
5. Managing a team and their capacity building
? Manage and mentor Research Associates by providing regular feedback and inputs on their work; delegate tasks
in coordination with Unit Head on a day-to-day basis
? Work with the HR and Capacity Building team to plan for upskilling of team and employee welfare
6. Miscellaneous
? Create content such as proposals, articles, research papers and evidence briefs as required
? Participate in any other research, assessment, survey project of ASER on need basis
E. Required Qualifications and Skills:
1. Education
Minimum post-graduate in a relevant field like education, psychology, measurement, or a related field. Candidates
who do not hold a postgraduate degree but possess significant and relevant professional experience may also be
considered.
2. Work experience
? Overall 5 years of work experience, and minimum 3-4 years of specific work experience in assessment
development, implementation, or analysis
? Familiarity with assessment frameworks, test development, educational measurement theories and psychometric
3. Communication
? Reading, speaking and writing proficiency in English and Hindi is essential; proficiency in any other regional
language is an advantage
? Strong written and oral communication skills to correspond with a diverse audience ? rural, urban, faculty,
students, government officials, partner organizations, donors, etc.
? Experience with research writing and editing is an added advantage
4. Technical
? Advanced proficiency in MS Office ? Word, PowerPoint, Excel
? Knowledge of any data analysis software such as Stata, R, Python will be an advantage
5. Organizational
? Able to work under minimum supervision
? Able to manage multiple projects simultaneously with great attention to detail
? Able to handle work pressure and deliver under tight schedules
? Take initiative and think innovatively
? Open to rural travel for long and short durations, often at short notice, and sometimes alone

 

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