Associate Psychometrician / Research Scientist

Job Title 

Associate Psychometrician / Research Scientist

Job Description

For more than 80 years, Kaplan has been a trailblazer in education and professional advancement. We are a global company at the intersection of education and technology, focused on collaboration, innovation, and creativity to deliver a best-in-class educational experience and make Kaplan a great place to work.

The future of education is here and we are eager to work alongside those who want to make a positive impact and inspire change in the world around them.

Kaplan North America is looking for an Associate Psychometrician/Research Scientist to join the Psychometrics and Learning Analytics team and provide psychometric support for the development, delivery, maintenance and expansion of the Kaplan Test of English (KTE) and various Kaplan’s testing and learning products. 

KTE is a cloud-based platform managed by Kaplan International, delivering a computerized-adaptive test (CAT) of English language that delivers instant proficiency evaluations with best-in-class accuracy, efficiency and accessibility. The test assesses English language proficiency skills ranging from beginner to advanced for individuals aged 16 or above. It is used by multiple companies across Kaplan and externally by universities, colleges, businesses worldwide, as a fair, valid and reliable assessment tool for admissions, placement, progress tracking workforce evaluation and proficiency certification.

This is a great opportunity to join a dynamic and important team in Kaplan’s digital learning and testing enterprise. The Psychometrics and Learning Analytics team help drive assessment design and creation. This team enables proper assessment functioning across all product lines and is responsible for the adaptive algorithm, machine learning and artificial intelligence applications within the Kaplan North America technology ecosystem.

We are seeking a highly-motivated and talented individual to be responsible for KTE's psychometric planning and implementation. The ideal candidate will combine strong psychometric and data science expertise with technical programming skills to maintain and enhance our adaptive testing platform, and work closely with IT teams to drive continuous improvement of our assessment system. The candidate is enthusiastic about data and education, has experience with computer adaptive testing, is able to work effectively in a remote global team, and respond to multi-priorities quickly. This is an exciting opportunity to be part of a team driving the success of innovative assessments and great impacts of learners

Primary/Key Responsibilities

• Work closely with the senior management team of Kaplan Testing Services (KTS) to provide the psychometric support to the Kaplan Test of English (KTE). 
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams globally consisting of IT engineers, content developers, business owners from different time zones in US, UK, Australia, and India.
• Conduct all aspects of psychometric analysis in operational work, including item analysis, IRT calibration, reliability and validity studies, test scaling and equating.
• Conduct all aspects of psychometric analysis to ensure the adaptive item bank quality and maintenance, including monitoring item exposure, parameter drift, response patterns, and test security.
• Design and optimize adaptive algorithms, evaluating and improving item selection and ability estimation methods.
• Develop and maintain programming scripts for data cleaning, processing, analysis, automation of psychometric workflow and process.  
• Leverage emerging AI and machine learning technologies to enhance automated scoring, test delivery, adaptive algorithms and other aspects of psychometric analysis. 
• Prepare technical reports and related documentation.
• Present research results to internal and external stakeholders and affiliates.
• Engage with the professional community through conferences and publications.
• Other duties as assigned 

Minimum Qualifications

• PhD Degree in statistics, psychometrics, educational measurement, quantitative psychology, data science or a closely related subject
• Experience with large-scale educational assessment programs
• Direct experience with CAT assessments and excellent working knowledge of adaptive algorithm and estimation methods
• Excellent working knowledge of classical and modern test theory and advanced psychometric models