POSITION ANNOUNCEMENT
Position Title:
Program:
Reports To:
Salary Range:
Location:
Position #:
Research Associate II
Innovation Studies/REL West
Project Director: Andrea Venezia
Level G; Exempt ($75,000 - $92,000)
San Francisco, CA
3701
WestEd is a research, development, and service agency working with education and other
communities to promote excellence, achieve equity, and improve learning for children,
youth, and adults. Drawing on the best knowledge from research and practice, we work
with practitioners and policymakers to address education’s most critical issues. A nonprofit agency, WestEd serves one of the nation’s designated regional educational
laboratories – originally created by congress in 1966 – serving the states of Arizona,
California, Nevada, and Utah. Our work, however, extends internationally, and there are
currently fifteen WestEd offices across the United States.
Innovation Studies
The Innovation Studies program creates and disseminates user-friendly information on
promising new approaches to school improvement. Program staff study innovative
practices in action, using research and theory to analyze key features that contribute to
successful outcomes. Then they communicate this information to educators,
policymakers, and funders through a range of print and web products, multimedia, and
practical tools. The Doing What Works website, for example, shows educators how
schools have implemented research-based practices and helps them plan their own
improvement strategies, on topics of mathematics, instruction, and school turnaround.
The regional educational laboratory (REL West) provides analytic support and conducts
studies for four western states: Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah. The aim of the
REL program is to make education a more evidence-based field by building the capacity
of educators and policymakers to use data in regular decision-making.
Initiative Description – Postsecondary Readiness and Success
A new initiative within Innovation Studies focuses on policies and practices to enhance
students’ preparation for, access to, and success in postsecondary education and careers.
It includes research, development, technical assistance, policy analysis, and outreach
strategies to inform practitioners, educational leaders, state and federal policymakers and
major foundations about proven and promising strategies to improve postsecondary
readiness and success. Programmatic focus areas may include, but are not limited to,
dual enrollment, career-technical programs, early outreach programs, assessments,
curricular alignment, P-16 data quality and use, and effective developmental education
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and first-year experience approaches. The goal is to grow this initiative substantially
over the next five years.
A proposed alliance for 2012-2016 under REL West is a California Community College
Alliance on Career and Technical Education. REL West will provide analytic support to
selected California Advancement Academies (CAAs), which align CTE curriculum
between community colleges and targeted industry-driven job training programs. To
support the CAAs, the Career Ladders Project (CLP) provides technical assistance,
documents the work of the CAA initiative, and establishes communities of practice
across community colleges. For the past two years, the network of community colleges,
working with CLP to design and implement successful programs, has evolved into an
alliance of educators working on a similar set of challenges related to implementing
specific curricula, pedagogical approaches and program design. This network, with the
support of REL West, could continue to refine data collection activities, identify targeted
milestones of progress, improve practices in priority areas such as pedagogical
approaches based on contextualization, and reinforce lessons learned through continuous
improvement.
Position Description:
This position will be a key team member in the Postsecondary Readiness and Success
initiative. The Policy Research Associate is a seasoned professional who manages and
carries out tasks under the general direction of the project director. The position offers
the potential to advance to project director with evidence of successful completion of
responsibilities, creation of positive field relationships, and development of new projects
and funding.
Responsibilities include:

Direct specific projects that may involve policy analysis, design and oversight of
projects in the field, and/or convening and dissemination. Use project management
strategies to establish clear, shared understanding of the tasks and the steps required
to accomplish them, and to monitor progress.

Participate in planning for REL community college alliance and manage ongoing
communication with field partners to identify research projects or analytic support
projects that will contribute to knowledge about specific strategies to increase
completion rates.

Serve as content expert in support to Completion by Design; meet with cadres to
determine needs, locate and summarize relevant research or leading examples,
develop products that communicate effectively to cadres.

Write and edit policy papers with other WestEd staff, and work with editors to revise
as necessary. Oversee review by outside reviewers and stakeholders.
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
Develop and implement dissemination strategies, including public presentations and
events.

Engage with other WestEd staff in strategic planning for the new initiative on
postsecondary readiness and success and also with related projects at WestEd.
Qualifications:

Deep knowledge of critical education issues in postsecondary readiness and success.

At least 3 years experience conducting research, publishing articles, and/or
conducting field work related to postsecondary readiness and success.

PhD degree in related field – or equivalent.

Demonstrated facility working in the field with people in a variety of roles, including
community college administrators, faculty, and students; K-12 educators; and policy
makers.

Excellent oral and written communication skills. Demonstrated expertise in writing
products for broad distribution for varied audiences, including policymakers and
practitioners.

Detail oriented. Able to plan project steps and timelines, and manage to completion
on time and within budget, but also flexible to changing client needs. Able to multitask and effectively handle multiple projects simultaneously.
Apply via the WestEd website. Position 3701, open until filled, with a desired start date
of February 1, 2012.
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