Principal Research Advisor
Nashville, TN
Full Time
Experienced
Principal Research Advisor
*As a note, this position has an activity that must be completed by candidates to be considered. Details and instructions are included at the bottom of the posting.
About Our Office
The Office of the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury is responsible for the audit of state and local governmental entities and participates in the general financial and administrative management and oversight of state government. The Office is led by Comptroller Jason E. Mumpower, a constitutional officer who is elected by the Tennessee General Assembly.
In the Comptroller’s Office, we strive to deliver on our mission to make government work better. We believe our success as an office depends on finding opportunities for employees to accomplish our office’s goals and answer challenges to make things better. Our Office is recognized nationally for its professional expertise and commitment to making government work better. We consistently rank as a Top Workplace and we are proud to foster an environment that values accountability and supports your growth.
We want every member of our team to feel challenged and excited to come to work every day. Through dedicated hard work and commitment, every Comptroller’s Office employee accepts personal responsibility to accomplish our mission and uphold it.
Position
The Office of Research and Education Accountability (OREA) is committed to producing objective and accurate research, evaluation, and analysis to inform public policy discussions and decisions in the Tennessee General Assembly. The work of OREA helps support the TN General Assembly and thereby supports the broader mission of the Comptroller's Office: to make government work better.
We are seeking a Principal Research Advisor responsible for supporting research analysts in producing publications for the General Assembly on education policy issues and on other policy issues related to state and local government.
Key responsibilities include:
- Helping project teams develop a research plan by considering study objectives, scope, research methods, and constraints (e.g., time, resources, data availability).
- Advising project teams in selecting the most appropriate quantitative and qualitative research methods to carry out studies, including, but not limited to:
- statistical models such as linear regression, ANOVA, difference-in-difference, or logistic regression, creation of comparison groups, and
- developing data collection instruments (e.g., surveys, interview questionnaires, and other materials).
- Assisting project teams in the execution of the selected research methods, data visualization, and in the interpretation and analysis of the results, if needed.
- Fostering an environment of collaboration and learning by training and educating staff on research methods, techniques, and technologies.
- Participating in regular project check ins and reviewing draft products.
- Performing studies and evaluations as assigned, either alone or as a project team member.
- Responding to requests for information from legislators, the Comptroller of the Treasury, and other officials.
- Presenting the results of reports in meetings or before legislative committees.
- Monitoring legislative committees and analyzing the fiscal impact of legislation.
Qualifications
You are qualified for this position if you meet the following criteria:
- A master’s degree from an accredited college or university in a field requiring knowledge of research methodology.
- Superior competence in research methods and statistical design.
- Two to three years of experience in positions of increasing responsibility applying research methods and statistical modeling, which may include research conceptualization and design, sampling, instrument design and administration, econometrics, mathematical modeling/operations research, and multivariate analysis.
- Experience conducting interviews, writing and administering surveys, interpreting, analyzing, and synthesizing results, and using statistical analysis software.
- The ability to produce publication-quality written text, express ideas, and present information clearly and concisely, along with the organizational skills to maintain documentation of activities.
- Excellent interpersonal skills, an aptitude for providing constructive criticism, and a continuous commitment to improve the skills and abilities of other analysts.
- The ability to deal tactfully and professionally with the public, co-workers, and members of the General Assembly.
- Other combinations of education/experience, if evaluated as equivalent, may qualify an applicant for consideration.
- A basic knowledge of the function and structure of state and local governments, of the legislative process, and of public policy in Tennessee.
- Strong data visualization skills.
- Our office has licenses for the following software: Stata, NVivo, Microsoft Power BI, and Tableau.
- Unofficial transcript
- Research or publication sample that demonstrates mastery of the skills listed under Qualifications. Candidates may also wish to include a list of publication citations.
- Completed candidate activity.
The Office of Research and Education Accountability has set a long-term goal to become one of the best public policy research, evaluation, and analysis organizations in the United States. Join us as we aim for organizational excellence.
Compensation
The Comptroller’s Office offers a competitive salary, commensurate with the required qualifications for this position, and comprehensive benefits package that includes twelve days each of annual leave and sick leave, insurance plans, pension retirement plan, 401(k), college fee waivers, and much more.
Equal Opportunity Employer
Pursuant to the Comptroller of the Treasury’s Workplace Discrimination and Harassment policy, the Office is firmly committed to the principle of fair and equal employment opportunities for its citizens and strives to protect the rights and opportunities of all people to seek, obtain, and hold employment without being subjected to illegal discrimination and harassment in the workplace. It is the Comptroller’s policy to provide an environment free of discrimination and harassment of an individual because of that person’s race, color, national origin, age (40 and over), sex, sexual orientation, transgender and gender identity status, pregnancy, religion, creed, disability, veteran’s status, or any other category protected by state and/or federal civil rights laws.
Required Candidate Activity
This activity includes two required sections. Candidates must use their own words for these exercises. Any submissions that are found to be plagiarized in any way will not be considered.
Required Activity:
Part 1
Background: The Comptroller’s Office of Research and Education Accountability (OREA) is required by state law (TCA 49-3-111) to “review and study the TISA to determine the effectiveness of state expenditures on kindergarten through grade twelve (K-12) education.” A group of OREA analysts has been assigned to work on this project. They have created a research plan, which includes conducting interviews with stakeholders, sending a survey to school district leaders, and analyzing available data. As the Principal Research Advisor in OREA, you are responsible for providing feedback to the group regarding the proposed research methods and making recommendations for improvement.
TCA 49-3-111.(d) The comptroller of the treasury, through the comptroller's office of research and education accountability, shall review and study the TISA to determine the effectiveness of state expenditures on kindergarten through grade twelve (K-12) education. By December 31, 2024, the comptroller shall report the conclusions of the study and any legislative recommendations to the speakers of the senate and house of representatives and to the members of the education committee of the senate and the education administration committee of the house of representatives.
Activity: Review the statutory language above, and the following linked documents:Provide written feedback for the analysts assigned to this project. Your feedback should include, at a minimum:
- strengths and weaknesses of the research plan and instruments,
- suggestions for improving the research plan and instruments, and
- suggestions for how to deal with any limitations identified.
Part 2
Background: Shifting gears from the TISA, part 2 of the required activity focuses on Tennessee’s 3rd grade retention law. In 2021, the General Assembly passed legislation updating 4th grade promotion requirements for 3rd graders. Under the new law, also known as the Tennessee Learning Loss Remediation and Student Acceleration Act, 3rd graders who do not achieve grade-level proficiency on the English Language Arts (ELA) portion of the spring Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) are identified for possible retention.[1] Students can fall into one of four performance categories. Students who score proficient are in the mastered category or the on-track category. Students who score below proficient fall into the approaching or below categories. Students who score in either of the below-proficient categories must participate in interventions, such as a summer learning camp or tutoring.[2]
Activity: Review the list of variables below, which includes Tennessee public school students in grades 3, 4, 5, and 6 for the 2022-23 through 2025-26 school years. Provide a written statement of how you would analyze the listed variables to determine the effectiveness of the Tennessee Learning Loss Remediation and Student Acceleration Act in increasing ELA proficiency among students. Your statement should include, at a minimum:
- the most appropriate statistical model(s),
- the rationale behind your selection,
- what we can learn from the model(s), and
- potential limitations.
- Student_ID: a numerical unique identifier for each student.
- District_code: numerical variable to identify the district in which the student is enrolled.
- District_name: string variable to identify the district in which the student is enrolled.
- School_code: numerical variable to identify the school in which the student is enrolled.
- School_name: string variable to identify the school in which the student is enrolled.
- Year: the school year that the observation captures. For example, 2023 would refer to the 2022-23 school year.
- Grade: grade the student was enrolled in.
- Prek: binary indicator for whether or not the student participated in Pre-Kindergarten.
- TCAP_raw_scoreMATH: the number of points earned on a Math TCAP test.
- TCAP_scaledMATH: a conversion of a student’s raw Math score (number correct out of total questions) on a test to a common scale.
- TCAP_categoryMATH: indicates which level a student scored on the Math TCAP (Below, Approaching, On-track, Mastered).
- TCAP_raw_scoreELA: the number of points earned on an English Language Arts (ELA) TCAP test.
- TCAP_scaledELA: a conversion of a student’s raw ELA score (number correct out of total questions) on a test to a common scale.
- TCAP_categoryELA: indicates which level a student scored on the ELA TCAP (Below, Approaching, On-track, Mastered).
- Class_size: the number of students in the class.
- Race: categorical variable to identify a student's race.
- Gender: binary variable to identify gender.
- IEP: binary variable to identify if the student has an Individual Education Program (IEP).
- EL: binary variable to indicate if the student is an English learner (EL).
- ED: binary variable to indicate if the student is economically disadvantaged (ED).
- TALLC: binary variable to indicate whether a student took part in Tennessee All Corps Tutoring during the observed school year.
- TALLC_format: categorical variable to identify whether a student took part in tutoring in school or outside of school hours.
- Summer_camp: indicates whether a student took part in a summer reading camp during the summer following the observed school year.
- Growth_summer: binary variable to indicate whether a student who took part in a summer learning camp met adequate growth on the end-of-camp exam.
- Promoted: binary variable to indicate whether the student was promoted to the next grade.
- Retained: binary variable to indicate whether the student was retained in their current grade.
- Growth_4: binary variable to indicate whether a student met the adequate growth standard required for promotion from 4th grade to 5th grade.
- Retest: binary variable to indicate whether a student chose to retake the TCAP prior to the end of the school year.
- Retest_raw: provides the raw score for the TCAP retest.
- Retest_scaled: provides scaled score for the TCAP retest.
- Retest_category: categorized score for the TCAP retest.
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