About Pratham and ASER Centre
Pratham was founded in 1995, to provide pre-school education to children in Mumbai slums. Over the last 20 years, Pratham has grown to be India’s largest NGO working to provide quality education to underprivileged youth and children in over 21 states and union territories across the country, with a range of interventions.
Established in 2008, ASER Centre is Pratham’s autonomous research and assessment unit. ASER conducts the largest citizen-led annual household survey of children in India. ASER Centre promotes a culture of evidence-based decision-making and seeks to develop and use simple yet rigorous methods to generate evidence on the scale of the outcomes of social sector programs, especially education. It also aims to strengthen the link between evidence and action by building the capacity of individuals and institutions to design, conduct, understand, and communicate the results of assessments that focus on key outcome indicators.
Assessment Unit
The assessment Unit at ASER Centre designs assessment tools for National and International Programmes across subjects /domains for Early Childhood Education (ECE), Primary and Upper-primary age groups, and EdTech programmes.
Additionally, assessment tools to measure teachers’ effectiveness have also been created and are evolving continuously. In recent times, the Unit has also started developing tools to measure the impact of technology-led learning interventions and adaptive assessment tool design on Android applications.
About the Position
The Senior Research Associate will be primarily responsible for all aspects related to designing educational assessments and frameworks pertaining to various projects of the Assessment Unit. The role may additionally involve project management duties which include but are not limited to setting project timelines/milestones, coordinating closely with various units at ASER Centre and Pratham and/or external clients/donors, training enumerators, and working on the budget.
The key responsibilities are as follows:
- Development of Technical Reports, Assessment Frameworks, Theory of change
- Development of simple, standardized, yet discriminating items/assessment tools to check children’s knowledge and skills for various programs in different languages.
- Translating and validating items and content to enhance the quality of the assessment tool
- Facilitate pilot testing of the tools to enhance the quality of items, monitoring, and enumerator training as and when required.
- Drafting and contributing to project reports, articles, and presentations including creating appropriate visualisations for data presentation.
- Developing project timelines, budgets, and operational plans.
- Travel to rural locations in support of these activities.
- A minimum commitment of 2 years is required.
Qualifications, Skills and Experience
Educational Qualification:
- Master’s degree: In a relevant field such as education, psychology, measurement, or a related field.
Assessment Experience:
- At least 1-2 years of experience in assessment development, implementation, or analysis.
- Familiarity with assessment frameworks, test development, educational measurement theories and psychometrics.
Other Skills:
- Analytical skills: Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
- Communication skills: Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Technical skills: Proficiency in Microsoft Office, statistical software (e.g., R, SPSS, Stata, jMetrik), and assessment platforms.
- Attention to detail: Meticulous attention to detail and ability to maintain high-quality standardized assessments.
Other requirements, but are not limited to:
- Collaboration: Ability to work collaboratively with stakeholders, including educators, policymakers, and other assessment professionals.
- Adaptability: Willingness to learn new skills, adapt to new assessment projects, and navigate changing priorities.
- Data-driven decision-making: Ability to collect, analyze, and interpret data to inform assessment decisions.
- High level of communication, interpersonal, and negotiation skills. Strong communication skills in English and Hindi (written and oral) will be critical. Proficiency in any other Indian language will be an advantage.
- Able to work under minimum supervision, handle work pressure and deliver under tight schedules. Takes initiative and thinks innovatively, respects diversity, and is able to work in large and small groups.
- Be comfortable with traveling extensively to rural locations across the country, sometimes at short notice. Travel, food, and accommodation for work-related travels outside the base location shall be separately borne or reimbursed on actuals by ASER Centre.
Employment type: Full Time
Location: New Delhi
Travel: Travel to rural locations in different states across the country as per need
Reports to: Unit Head
Duration: Minimum 2 years’ commitment
Work experience: 2-5 years
Deadline: Immediate (open until filled)
Remuneration: The remuneration will be competitive within the Indian philanthropy pay scale and will be based on the candidate’s experience and qualifications.
Application Process:
To apply, fill out the Google form link here https://forms.gle/Cii8fsh7pkyxrafA9 and upload the following documents
- Updated CV (File name: FullName_CV)
- Statement of Purpose (SOP) describing how you make a good fit for this role in up to 500 words. Please give specific examples that align with the job requirements and how it aligns with your future career goals. (File name: FullName_SOP)
Incomplete applications will not be considered. Shortlisted candidates will be contacted for three subsequent rounds: telephonic/skype/zoom interview, written assignments, and final interview. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted at each stage of the recruitment process.
