Director, Learning and Evaluation

Title: Director, Learning and Evaluation  

Location: Remote (Potential 10-20% travel needed to build context at school sites and to support with implementation and evaluation studies as well as occasional attendance at conferences) 

Start Date: March/April 2022

Who We Are

Blue Engine is an education nonprofit that optimizes the power of team teaching, the approach of having multiple teachers work together in a classroom in service of a shared outcome for students. Blue Engine partners with school systems to maximize the potential inherent in every school, teacher, and student, so that every learner thrives no matter their race, income level, or learning style. We do this by optimizing how teachers work together to individualize instruction for every student. In doing so, Blue Engine delivers mindset shifts and effective practices for teachers and engaging, identity-affirming learning experiences for students. 

This approach has yielded dramatic gains in academic achievement: Algebra students in BE classrooms demonstrate six additional months of learning in a single school year. The COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated the existing inequities that affect low-income students from marginalized communities. Blue Engine programs are uniquely positioned to ensure students are seen as individuals and instruction is tailored to their needs by removing barriers and increasing accessibility. After more than a decade of operating in New York City, Blue Engine is expanding its impact to different geographies, including Washington, DC, and Louisiana.

The Role

Blue Engine is on a mission to establish team teaching as a proven tool that education leaders across the country can deploy to individualize instruction for every student. Over the next three years, Blue Engine will grow by 10x to at least 20 systems, reaching 14,000 students. To meet these ambitious growth goals, Blue Engine is eager to build a national evidence base that Blue Engine’s model significantly impacts student outcomes and learning experiences.

The Director of Learning and Evaluation will build the systems necessary to develop a national evidence base. This role will sit on our Learning, Design, and Impact (L, D&I) team and work cross-functionally with the Learning, Design and Impact, Development and Communications, and Program Implementation teams. The Director of Learning and Evaluation will own the evaluation framework for Blue Engine’s partnership approach and develop the systems and processes needed to effectively implement related data management strategies and tactics across our organization and partners. The Director will oversee two consultants who support the operational aspects of data collection and management. This role is a perfect opportunity for someone who loves to connect data and evaluation to practice, is deeply passionate about continuous improvement in the K-12 sector, and can consistently keep equity at the center in designing all evaluation strategies. 

What You Will Do

1) Drive, assess and refine Blue Engine’s evaluation strategy, including updating and refining Blue Engine’s Theory of Change and Performance Management Plan 

a) Collaborate with an evaluation partner to refine and improve upon Blue Engine’s evaluation strategy by updating our theory of change and performance management plans based on research and insights and ensuring that our core values of DEI live within our evaluation strategy. 

b) Serve as the project lead by owning all project planning and collaboration and maintaining a solid day-to-day working relationship with our external evaluation partner. 

c) Update and develop the content of Blue Engine’s Performance Management Plan (PMP), including logic models, the content for all data collection tools, and any study-specific tools. Collaborate across our team and externally to continuously improve data tool content, ensure alignment to research, as well as overall usability. Ensure our PMP tells a holistic story of our work with partners through the collection of both quantitative and qualitative data. 

2) Manage the implementation and oversight of Blue Engine’s data collection strategy, including regular data collection, implementation studies, and formal evaluation studies 

a) Manage, maintain and communicate to internal and external audiences the connection between theoretical frameworks (i.e., theory of change, logic models, etc.) and our data strategy. 

b) In partnership with an external evaluator, execute implementation and formal evaluation studies into the effects of Blue Engine’s program by determining appropriate conditions for running analyses. 

c) Develop a concrete plan for regular program data collection by partnering with program implementation leadership to develop a data calendar and collect data across multiple regions. 

d) Manage data consultants to ensure we have strong processes for data collection cycles.

e) Lead on cycles of improving data collection tools to ensure they are usable for program staff and sites. 

f) Manage data consultants in the development of data visualization dashboards by establishing a vision and providing feedback to ensure data visualization tools meet the needs of various stakeholders.

g) To facilitate efficient data collection, develop strategic partnerships with data departments at the network and district levels.

h) Research and understand data security laws and protocols needed for data collection across different regional partnerships to ensure our data collection systems meet all legal requirements and support various teams across the organization to ensure that we comply with these laws.  

3) Lead on and support the communication of Blue Engine’s impact both internally and externally.  

a) Partner with various team members to ensure that accurate and compelling outcomes and quantitative and qualitative data are integrated into marketing collateral, reports, and funding proposals.

b) Regularly connect with the field and review external literature to understand the latest tools, approaches, and relevant impact measures; maintain internal systems of external research. 

c) Lead the creation of impact reports and data summaries for external and internal audiences.

d) Collaborate with the Director of Learning and Design and Director of Communications on opportunities to build awareness of Blue Engine’s impact by identifying opportunities based on data findings and supporting the execution of awareness-building activities. 

4) Lead on structures and protocols for internal continuous improvement processes and support in codifying and improving the team’s annual improvement strategies and insights.  

a) Support Blue Engine’s L, D & I team in developing annual learning agendas aligned to data insights. Shape the methods we use for continuous organizational learning by providing input on priority areas and data collection opportunities for pilots and support on discrete research initiatives. 

b) Lead on the execution of rapid-learning cycles by collaborating with the Program Implementation Team  

c) Work across the L, D, & I team to ensure all key stakeholders know internal learnings by utilizing strategies such as quarterly updates and annual learning reports.  

d) Codify learning processes by developing internal knowledge management for yearly learning initiatives. 

Org-Wide Responsibilities 

Champion Blue Engine’s mission & demonstrate strong alignment with organizational culture and values. 

- Be a champion of BE’s mission and operate with a “students first” mentality.

- Proactively give constructive feedback to help Blue Engine continuously improve.

- Uphold and live out our Core Values and Commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusiveness, and anti-racism.

- Participate in collective organization-wide responsibilities and events.

Who We Need

We believe that we are better together than we are as individuals. Our team supports one another to reflect, improve, and push our individual and collective practice to new levels. We are looking for someone who will bring their ideas, experience, and perspective, have a natural sense of curiosity and thrive in cultures fostering open and honest feedback. An ideal candidate will be research-oriented and experienced growing and scaling evaluation strategies in the K-12 sector. We are looking for someone passionate about education and eager to support our efforts to ensure that all students thrive no matter their race, income level, or learning style. 

Specifically, we are searching for an individual who possesses the following:  

- 3-5 years of experience in research and evaluation, preferably in a growing organization; experience and knowledge of growing and scaling an evaluation strategy is highly preferred 

- Demonstrated knowledge of research and evaluation, outcome measurement, and statistics; formal education in research design or a related field highly desirable (Master’s degree preferable)  

- Knowledge of the K-12 field; previous experience working with K-12 schools and/or organizations is required.

- TEAMWORK/COLLABORATION: Reaches to others both inside and outside of the organization to establish and maintain an overall collaborative working relationship. 

- DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION: Demonstrated belief in the value of diversity, inclusivity, and anti-racism; Ability to center DEI in an evaluation strategy and seek out diverse perspectives to ensure our evaluation strategy aligns to our bedrock core value of DEI. Ability to discern limitations of quantitative data and leverage qualitative data to tell a story of impact holistically. 

- LEARNING AGILITY: Self-reflects to identify improvements needed in approach; solicits feedback to improve and incorporates critical feedback into practice. Able to serve as an expert in continuous improvement. 

- STRATEGIC: Ability to quickly identify patterns and issues and develop relevant solutions. 

- ANALYTICAL: Strong knowledge of best data analysis, synthesis, and reporting practices. Able to structure and process qualitative and quantitative data and draw insights and conclusions.

- ORGANIZED PLANNER: Extremely organized and effective project planner and manager. Able to create effective plans that communicate steps to all stakeholders and ensure that we are on track. 

- COMMUNICATOR: Speaks and writes clearly with superb active listening skills; able to make complex data accessible and clear to a broad range of audiences.

- ADAPTABLE: Adjust quickly to changing priorities and conditions; copes effectively with complexity and change. 

- MISSION ALIGNMENT: Believes in the infinite potential of all humans and in an educational system that works to liberate that potential.

Since this individual will need to travel to school sites, Blue Engine requires this person to:

- Be fully vaccinated with an FDA or WHO authorized vaccine within 2 months of start date (or approved for an exemption as a reasonable accommodation due to a medical reason or sincerely held religious belief). Blue Engine abides by each state’s requirements and acknowledges those may change over time.

- Complete a thorough background screening report with clear results prior to the start date.If you move forward to the phone screen stage, there will be an opportunity to ask your interviewer more about these requirements.

Compensation & Benefits

The salary range for this role is $80,000-$110,000. Compensation for this role will depend on experience, demonstrated performance on core competencies, and internal equity alignment. Blue Engine offers a comprehensive benefits plan, including employer-paid medical, dental, vision insurance for employees and the majority of costs for dependents subsidized. Other benefits include six weeks of paid time off, a 403(b) plan with employer matching, commuter benefits, and a flexible work environment.

To Apply

Applicants should submit their application (resume, work sample & application questions) below. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

OUR APPROACH TO DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSIVITY

Blue Engine is more than an “equal opportunity employer.” We acknowledge the roles we play as educators and leaders in the systems of oppression and racism that exist in our city, our communities, and our classrooms, and strive to become an actively anti-racist organization. We do this first by articulating the value of diversity, inclusivity, and equity as separate yet interwoven concepts; we evaluate decisions and policies through the lens of diversity, inclusivity, and equity; we pursue opportunities for continued learning about how historic and current systems of oppression manifest in individuals and organizations; we strive to increase our collective awareness of the cultural values, biases, and differences in self and others; we utilize skills of interruption to bring to bear cultural breaches along the lines of diversity, inclusivity, and anti-racism and combine these approaches to embrace and resolve conflict while fostering growth. We make this commitment because we know it enables us to more meaningfully connect with each other, our students, and the communities in which we work.