Description
South Bend Community School Corporation in South Bend, Indiana is looking for a Research Specialist who will play a pivotal role in transforming our district data into actionable knowledge. This position is responsible for conducting high-level research and data analysis to assess district and school performance on key indicators and evaluate effectiveness of district’s improvement initiatives and strategies. The Specialist acts as a bridge between data and practice – managing external research partnerships, ensuring that all data-sharing activities are conducted under the highest standards of legal and ethical compliance, and providing assistance to staff on data analysis and interpretation to help move the district into a data driven decision-making institution. The attached is the job description and here is the link to the application: https://sb.schoolspring.com/?jobid=5689744
POSITION SUMMARY
The Research Specialist plays a pivotal role in transforming district data into actionable
knowledge. This position is responsible for conducting high-level research and data
analysis to assess district and school performance on key indicators and evaluate
effectiveness of district’s improvement initiatives and strategies. The Specialist acts as a
bridge between data and practice – managing external research partnerships, ensuring that
all data-sharing activities are conducted under the highest standards of legal and ethical
compliance, and providing assistance to staff on data analysis and interpretation to help
move the district into a data driven decision-making institution.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
The Research Specialist will perform the following core functions and other duties as
assigned by the immediate supervisor.
Research, Evaluation & Monitoring
- Conduct descriptive and inferential statistical analysis on administrative and
outcome data to generate insights for instructional and operational decisions
- Track and evaluate the ROI of district-wide programs and initiatives and impact on
student learning.
- Develop and maintain enrollment projection models to assist district leadership in
annual staffing allocations as well as long-term strategic facility planning and
enrollment policy
- Monitor, investigate, and report the district’s disproportionality data to help close
the academic achievement and equity gaps.
Reporting & Strategic Communication
- Author research reports and white papers that distill complex findings into
actionable insights for internal and external stakeholders and audiences.
- Create compelling visualizations and present findings to non-technical audiences.
Survey Design & Administration
- Lead the development, administration, analysis, and reporting of district-wide
surveys.
- Support central oice departments and schools with survey design, administration,
data analysis and interpretation.
Research Management & Data Stewardship
- Act as the primary custodian of student and staff data, ensuring strict adherence to
FERPA, HIPAA, and Indiana-specific data privacy laws
- Manage internal and external research requests and related data sharing
agreements
Requirements
- Master’s degree in Educational Research, Statistics, Psychology, Sociology, or a
related field (Ph.D. preferred).
- Deep theoretical and practical knowledge of quantitative and qualitative research
methodologies, including survey design, sampling techniques, hypothesis testing,
and internal/external validity threats.
- Solid training in advanced statistical analysis (e.g., GLM, HLM, propensity score
matching, and factor analysis).
- Demonstrated mastery of FERPA and HIPAA regulations with a proven track record
of maintaining data privacy and institutional compliance in the K-12 setting.
- Advanced proficiency in R (preferred) or other statistical software to perform data
wrangling and statistical analysis.
- Working knowledge of using SQL to extract data from PowerSchool or other
relational databases.
