Research Associate I

Company Description

EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT CENTER (EDC)

EDC is one of the world’s leading nonprofit research and development firms.  EDC designs, implements, and evaluates programs to improve education, health, and economic opportunity worldwide. Collaborating with both public and private partners, we strive for a world where all people are empowered to live healthy, productive lives.

EDC’s approach to equity, diversity, and inclusion is grounded in EDC’s commitment to respect the dignity of each individual. EDC has a commitment to promoting equity and access to high quality education and health services that contribute to thriving communities where people from diverse backgrounds learn, live, and work together. EDC expresses its commitment to increasing equity through its strategies, services and products, which contribute to building capacity and transforming lives.

Job Description

STRONG CANDIDATE IDENTIFIED

Education Development Center’s Center for Children and Technology (CCT) has an opening for a Full Time Research Associate I, reporting to a Project Director. This position is located in our New York City office and will require work in the EDC New York office at times. This position requires the ability to regularly travel to local data-collection sites and may be required to travel domestically for data-collection and dissemination purposes.

EDC’s Center for Children and Technology is seeking a full-time Research Associate I to support studies that explore the role of digital media in young children’s learning and in multi-generational learning settings, with a focus on STEM, computational thinking, early literacy, and future careers and jobs. The Research Associate I will assist with quantitative and qualitative data collection, data entry, data cleaning, database preparation.  This candidate will have experience with using SPSS or other statistical software packages, as well as nVivo, or other qualitative software analysis packages, and will support the data analysis for one or more research studies.  This candidate will support planning for and collecting survey data, direct child assessments, and qualitative data, as well as other types of data. The role includes providing general support for participant recruitment and study implementation across multiple sites. We are looking for a team member who will support instrument development, tracking of participant engagement in study activity, and other research tasks that create a positive experience for study participants, which include formal and informal educators, parents and young children.

Based in New York City, the Center for Children and Technology (CCT) is one of EDC’s research and development centers. Founded in 1980 at Bank Street School of Education, CCT investigates how technology can enhance equitable access to teaching and learning across a wide range of educational settings. CCT conducts basic, applied, causal, and formative research, working in collaboration with educational, corporate, government, and research institutions, as well as communities. CCT also designs and develops prototype software and instructional resources that support engaged, active learning for underserved communities. CCT offers a dynamic and highly collaborative work environment that seeks to answer challenging practical as well as theoretical questions about teaching and learning, and is centered on teachers, students, families, and communities, and the tools that can help create successful learning environments.

You will:  

• support the design and implementation of research studies
• participate in maintaining records and documentation for study activities and participants
• collect data during study activities on site-visits
• assist in the drafting and revising of documents that describe study activities, findings or content for dissemination
• support the communication of study findings through writing and presenting, and pursuing writing and presentation opportunities
• collaborate with peers and partners on a range of research study tasks
• communicate and coordinate with study participants and partners in ways that support the overall project work

Qualifications

This position requires educational achievement; excellent writing skills; demonstrable initiative, creativity, and flexibility; ability to work independently and effectively in groups; and strong interpersonal & organizational skills, and quantitative data analysis skills.

Education:

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent combination of education and experience

Skills & Experience:

• 5-8 years of experience in a related field
• Knowledge of research related to children’s early learning development a