Senior Assessment Designer, ELA 6–12 (Contractor)

A pioneer in K–12 education since 2000, Amplify is leading the way in next-generation curriculum and assessment. Our core and supplemental programs in ELA, math, and science engage all students in rigorous learning and inspire them to think deeply, creatively, and for themselves. Our formative assessment products help teachers identify the targeted instruction students need to build a strong foundation in early reading and math. All of our programs provide educators with powerful tools that help them understand and respond to the needs of every student. Today, Amplify serves more than 10 million students in all 50 states. For more information, visit amplify.com.

Amplify is reimagining the way teachers teach and students learn. We believe technology can work alongside great and diverse literature to empower teachers to create deeply engaged classrooms and to inspire the next generation of critical thinkers and leaders. Come and work with us!

The Senior Assessment Designer is responsible for ensuring that 6–12 ELA assessments reflect the program’s content architecture, reporting structure, and vision for overall impact while aligning to market needs, key competencies, and learning standards across the United States. The Senior Assessment Designer focuses on deeply understanding the vision for curriculum, embedded measurement, formative and summative assessments, and reporting in 6–12 ELA; working with Research & Measurement to collaboratively design a comprehensive yet flexible assessment model for 6–8 ELA; creating templates and training materials for assessment development; designing assessment items in 6–8 ELA; and overseeing an iterative process of strategic improvements to ensure varied, reliable, and appropriate assessment options.

Amplify’s COVID-19 vaccination policy requires all staff to provide proof of vaccination for in-person meetings unless an approved exemption is provided.

Job Responsibilities:

Assessment and Reporting Design 

• Work collaboratively with 6–12 ELA leadership and Research & Measurement leadership to design and refine the following: 1) a structure of competencies that will undergird the 6–8 ELA curriculum, assessments, and reporting system; and 2) a model for assessing and reporting on student progress against all competencies in both structured and flexible implementations. 
• Collaborate to refine, actively communicate, and translate the program vision into a commercial product that meets market needs while providing clear and actionable data to teachers, students, and administrators.
• Maintain a deep understanding of the current national landscape of ELA instruction and assessment, state learning standards, and high school readiness metrics to ensure strong alignment between the Amplify ELA 6–8 offerings and the needs of the commercial product. 

Assessment Development Structures

• Work collaboratively with ELA 6–12 leadership and management to develop processes and templates as well as to create a range of assessment content across both digital and print formats, including auto-scored selected response items, rubrics, and guidelines for scoring a range of authentic, creative, and flexible projects and assessments
• Lead content and resource reviews to ensure high-quality assessment content that is varied, reliable, and appropriate, and to identify areas for the ongoing training of content creators. 

Iterative Assessment Improvement

• Work collaboratively with 6–12 ELA leadership and colleagues on the Research & Measurement team to design and oversee a review process that gathers internal and/or external feedback on assessment content before it is released and that uses performance data to evaluate the reliability and appropriateness of assessment content that has been piloted and/or used in the field.
  
• Consolidate feedback to identify needed improvements
• Continue to identify additional program needs, design content to respond to those needs, and evaluate the effectiveness of assessment content.

Basic Qualifications of the Senior Assessment Designer:

• Bachelor’s Degree in an ELA-related field (English, Comparative Literature, etc.); Education; Instructional, Curriculum, or Assessment Design; or related field
• 3+ years of teaching or instructional/curriculum/assessment design experience
• 2+ years of work experience in education or curriculum/assessment publishing with familiarity in assessment content development
• Experience writing fair and appropriate selected response assessment items measuring students’ reading comprehension and text analysis skills
• Experience designing rubrics and clear criteria for success on a broad range of projects and assessments
• Experience with digital and print assessment design and delivery
• Excellent leadership and collaboration skills; excellent written and verbal communication
• Broad understanding of the 6–12 educational landscape, including state standards, standardized assessments, and college readiness criteria
• Deep familiarity with the 6–8 ELA Common Core State Standards and/or at least one state’s 6–8 ELA learning standards
• Basic familiarity with validity, reliability, and best practices for designing fair and appropriate assessments
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment
• Position is remote with some travel required for in-person collaboration in our Brooklyn office (3-5 visits per year )

Preferred Qualifications of the Senior Assessment Designer:

• MA in Education, Instructional design, English, Special Education, School Psychology, or related field
• 2+ years of work experience in a leadership capacity that involved overseeing and evaluating assessment content development
• Expertise in the research on adolescent literacy
• Experience working in or with educational technology
• Solid understanding of K–5 literacy skills, in particular the measures used to assess foundational reading skills

Compensation:

The hourly rate range for this role is $45.00-$50.00.

We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. To that end, we seek to recruit, develop and retain the most talented people from a diverse candidate pool. 

Amplify is an Equal Opportunity Employer of Minorities, Females, Protected Veterans and Individuals with Disabilities. 

This position may be funded, in whole or in part, through American Recovery & Reinvestment Act funds.

Amplify Education, Inc. is an E-Verify participant.