EBE is looking for a Research Statistician and Data Analyst to join our Research, Development and Education Team, and to develop and work on the data generated by our Great Teaching Toolkit and other projects.
The Great Teaching Toolkit (GTT) is used by more than 25,000 teachers in the UK and around the world. We’re looking to continue to develop and improve what it offers, ultimately to reach even more schools and colleges, teachers and students. We aim to contribute to improving the quality of teaching in thousands more classrooms globally.
In order to help achieve these aims, you will work closely with Prof Rob Coe and the team behind the GTT. The kinds of data we have (or will collect) include:
- Student surveys of their perceptions of classroom practices (matched to the class, teacher and school)
- Staff surveys of their perceptions of the school’s environment and leadership
- Self- and peer-assessment tools for teachers to rate themselves and give feedback to colleagues
- Ratings from lesson observations against multiple, specific criteria, from multiple raters for the same lessons, and of lessons taught by the same teachers, over time or across different classes
- Student attainment data, matched to the class, teacher and school, with repeated measures for the same student over time and multiple concurrent measures of the same student in different subject areas
Some of these datasets we have already collected; others are in development and will grow over time. All these instruments are designed to give insightful feedback to the user, to help them improve. We have multiple, matched sources of data from tens of thousands of students, thousands of teachers and hundreds of schools. We believe the depth, connectedness, quality and quantity of our data is unprecedented, and offers exciting opportunities to answer important questions about effective educational practices and teacher development.
In addition, we are involved in a range of research projects with external partners. The largest of these is the Teacher Improvement through Data and Evaluation (TIDE) project, led by the National Institute of Teaching and funded by the Nuffield Foundation. The successful candidate would have roughly one day a week funded to work on this project.
The Research Statistician and Data Analyst will play a key part in developing new instruments and in processing, developing and analysing these data, contributing to ground-breaking research that has the power to transform educational practices.
The role is permanent and full-time, though we are open to part-time applicants, secondments and other working arrangements. Read on for more details and to find out how to apply.
Equality and diversity
EBE recognises the positive value of diversity, promotes equality and challenges discrimination. We welcome and encourage job applications from people of all genders and backgrounds. We particularly welcome applications from disabled and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) candidates, as BAME and disabled people are currently under-represented at EBE.
Key details
Location: Based out of our Sunderland office. A flexible balance between home and office working is ideal, though we are also open to full remote working for the right candidate.
Salary: From £32,000 – £42,000 FTE, dependent on experience
Start date: As soon as possible
Contract: Full-time, permanent (though open to part-time or secondment arrangements)
Working hours and flexibility: Core hours are 10am-3pm Monday to Friday. Outside of this window, flexible working is encouraged.
Benefits of working with EBE:
- A motivated team
- Opportunity to make the role your own
- Generous parental leave and pay policies
- Uncapped annual leave
- NEST pension scheme
- Various salary sacrifice schemes in operation
- And much more!
Job outline
The successful candidate will form a key part of EBE’s Research, Development and Education Unit, working closely with Professor Rob Coe and team to continuously improve the Great Teaching Toolkit. The key aspects of the role are as follows:
- Clean and process data generated as part of the GTT and TIDE, validating and making recommendations for improvements to existing instruments. Knowledge of general statistical methods and the ability to learn new techniques is essential. Specific knowledge of measurement theory and assessment development (e.g., IRT models, Comparative Judgement methods) is desirable.
- Apply standard models to analyse the data (e.g., multilevel/mixed/fixed effects linear models, Structural Equation Models, value-added models, etc). Familiarity with R – or at least a willingness to learn – is a requirement, along with other relevant statistical tools.
- Analyse user behaviour and interaction patterns within the GTT platform to identify opportunities for improved user experience and feature optimisation, identifying user segments and personas based on platform engagement data, helping tailor both research insights and product features to different types of users, and collaborating with the product team to develop and analyse A/B tests for new features, ensuring data-driven decision-making throughout the product development cycle.
- Communicate key and interesting findings from these analyses, both internally with colleagues and by publishing to external stakeholders, including in academic journals. The person appointed must be able to communicate complex and abstract statistical ideas clearly. A knowledge of existing research in relevant areas, such as teacher value-added or classroom observation, is desirable. Also desirable is the ability to present well to groups of teachers and school leaders.
- Form part of the team developing our new tools and instruments, to ensure their robustness, acceptability, reliability and validity. Coordination with others and clear documentation of processes and code is required.
- Get involved in other relevant EBE projects!
We don’t expect that the right person will necessarily be an expert in all of these things immediately – however, a willingness to learn and develop new skills, and an appetite for challenge in a varied workplace and job are key to the success of every EBE team member.
Person specification
You can read all of EBE’s core values, capabilities and behaviours here – what we expect from everyone in the team – and below, you can read the key details pertaining to this role. That said, if you are unsure whether you meet some or all of the criteria below, but are excited by the opportunity nevertheless, we encourage you to send in an application, as at least some of these skills are developable with guidance and experience.
The successful candidate will be:
- Motivated: capable of working remotely and in person, and getting things done.
- Committed to the EBE team ethos: we work quickly and precisely, and collaborate well to inspire both each other and the people and organisations we work with.
- Excellent at solving problems, with extremely good attention to detail.
- A good communicator, both remotely and in-person, and able to maintain and develop relationships inside and outside of the organisation.
- Resilient and able to deal with a degree of uncertainty: this role will, to a degree, need to be shaped and moulded over time. The ideal candidate will be excited by the prospect of making the role their own.
How to apply
Thanks for getting this far! If you think you are who we’re looking for, please head to this link to complete the application process by 5pm on Friday 30th May.
