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WestEd Position Announcement

Position Title:	Director, English Language Arts Development
Reports to:	Director of Test Development
Program:	Assessment & Standards Development Services
Salary:	Competitive
Location:	San Francisco, CA
Time Base:	100%
Position No:	2878

WestEd, a nonprofit research, development, and service agency, works with education and other communities to promote excellence, achieve equity, and improve learning for children, youth, and adults. While WestEd serves the states of Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah as one of the nation's Regional Educational Laboratories, our agency's work extends throughout the United States and abroad. WestEd has 17 offices nationwide, from Washington and Boston to Arizona, Southern California, and its headquarters in San Francisco.

Based in WestEd's headquarters, the Assessment Standards and Development Services (ASDS) program is involved extensively at the local, state and national level in planning, developing, implementing, and evaluating standards, assessments, and accountability systems. Our work addresses educational needs from the elementary school level into the world of work. ASDS projects span a range of domains, from traditional academic areas (e.g., language arts, mathematics, science) to other fields, such as career-technical education, and college and workplace readiness.

In its capacity as the Assessment and Accountability Comprehensive Center (AACC), WestEd has been instrumental in helping the education community respond to extensive federal requirements for assessment and accountability by conducting critical research studies, bridging research to practice, and providing technical and policy support at state, local, and national levels.

Position Description

WestEd’s Assessment and Standards Development Services Program is seeking an experienced senior-level English Language Arts Development Director with the ability to manage a team of educational content specialists and editors, define and manage the creation of quality products, build successful relationships both internally and externally, and provide financial oversight. The Director will assume leadership of the content components of projects related to the assessment and accountability of general education students, English language learner (ELL) students, and students with disabilities. The Director will be responsible for providing technical assistance to states and other organizations on issues related to assessment and accountability.

Responsibilities

Overarching:

• Assume leadership of the English Language Arts (ELA) content team.
  
• Maintain program stability, simultaneously managing the content contribution for multiple assessment and research projects focusing on optimizing resources, providing high-quality products and services designed to address clients’ needs and deadlines.
• Manage project/product design, content, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
• Develop and implement new protocols, systems, processes, and materials as needed.
  
• Provide ELA content direction and support for research projects as needed/required.
• Interact regularly with clients and partners, responding appropriately to changing client needs and circumstances to assure client satisfaction.
• Provide consultation to states and other organizations on strategies related to effectively meeting their assessment and accountability needs.
• Play a leadership role in resource development.
  
• Work with senior-level internal management to solve complex implementation challenges and ensure client expectations, specifications, and requirements are met.

Staff:

• Define expectations for the ELA content team regarding quality products while meeting timeline and cost projections.
• Assess ELA content staff capabilities, understand project needs, and organize the team resources to match staff capabilities to project needs.
• Supervise, mentor, evaluate and develop junior and mid-level staff.

Content:

• Guide definition of and communicate appropriate expectations surrounding quality for ELA assessment content.
• Guide preparation of test blueprints, item specifications, forms construction guidelines, passage finding and commissioning of passages, scoring rubrics, annotated teacher guides, practice tests, and technical reports.
• Provide content advisory assistance to clients regarding compliance with state and federal requirements.
  
• Provide guidance to clients on the technical quality of their standards and assessments (e.g., validity, reliability, bias).
• Assume a leadership role in understanding and applying research relevant to the assessment of students with disabilities and/or English learner students to project activities as appropriate.
• Contribute expertise and guide content contributions for standards review and revision, curriculum design, alignment studies, and cognitive laboratories.
• Play a leadership role in developing ELA work, including contributing to proposal development.

Qualifications

• Master's degree in English/language arts educational psychology, educational measurement, or a related field (Ph.D. preferred).
• 8+ years of experience in assessment development or an equivalent skill set based on a combination of assessment and teaching.
• 5+ years as a manager or program lead (preferred).
• 3 + years combined experience with standards review and revision, alignment studies, and cognitive laboratories.
• Experience with ELL students and/or students with disabilities (preferred).
• Experience in curriculum development, professional development, and/or instructional design.
• Ability to organize and prioritize work for a team.
• Ability to understand complex problems and collaborate with others to provide effective solutions.
• Effective oral and written communication and presentation skills.
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to effectively collaborate with co-workers and clients.
• Facility with Microsoft Office Suite of products including Word and Excel, and comfort working with databases.

Understanding:
This position description is not intended to be all-inclusive, and the incumbent will perform other reasonable business-related duties as assigned by the immediate supervisor and other managers when necessary. WestEd reserves the right to change duties and responsibilities as the need arises. This position description does not constitute a written or implied contract of employment.

Application Process

Apply for this Position

We invite you to apply online at http://www.WestEd.org/careers or you may send your resume, a letter of interest (specify Job No. 2878) and a list of three references to:

Human Resources
WestEd
730 Harrison Street
San Francisco, CA 94107
FAX: 415-565-3012
http://www.WestEd.org

WestEd is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. Positions are open until filled.