(Name-mce) ListServ Job Posting: ELL Assessment - Pacific Region

[Anselmo Villanueva]

http://jobs.prel.org/cs/jobs/view/jobs/69

Title: Specialist, ELL Assessment
Position Number: FY06-32 (One position each located in Guam, American
Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI)
Reports to: Senior Specialist, ELL
Salary: Commensurate with qualifications and experience plus excellent benefits

Summary: The Specialist, ELL Assessment, will work collaboratively
with staff and clients to design ELL assessment items for English
Language Arts. The primary purpose is to develop a database of
culturally and contextually appropriate items for the Pacific Region.
Initial projects will focus on four entities, the State of Hawaii,
American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana
Islands (CNMI). The specialist will gather ELL standards and
benchmarks in literacy and synthesize the four documents into one.
S/he will manage the process of item procurement and item revisions
for grades K – 12. The specialist will be responsible for maintaining
project reports and written reports.

Pacific Resources for Education and Learning (PREL) is a nonprofit
corporation providing educational research, development, training, and
technical assistance services to the Pacific region of American Samoa,
the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Federated States
of Micronesia (Chuuk, Kosrae, Pohnpei, and Yap), Guam, Hawaii, the
Republic of Palau, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands. PREL is a
unique, multicultural organization that places a priority on a
positive, supportive, and productive work environment and people who
thrive in this kind of atmosphere.

Job Duties

• Work collaboratively with the PREL staff and partners to synthesize
K – 12 ELL standards and benchmarks in literacy into one working
document.
• Work collaboratively with the PREL staff and partners to plan,
design, and develop a K – 12 item bank of culturally and contextually
appropriate items for determining the status of English Language
Learners in the Pacific.
• Work collaboratively with the PREL staff and partners to align test
items with the synthesized set of standards and benchmarks.
• Work collaboratively with a Pacific consortium of ELL specialists in
Hawaii, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana
Islands and Guam to find and contextualize items in reading, writing,
speaking, and listening.
• Conduct item tryouts to determine validity and reliability for
Pacific students.
• Use Eluminate system to communicate with ELL specialists in the
Pacific Consortium.
Other Duties/Functions
• Collect, analyze, and synthesize statistics for ELL test items.
• Write reports for the funding agency, partners and clients.
• Participate in PREL collaborative relating to ELL assessments.
• Perform all other duties as assigned.

Job Conditions Working Conditions

PREL's contract environment requires the ability to effectively plan
and meet short timelines and changing conditions. Strong staff
collaboration in work assignments is a standard at PREL. This work may
involve overnight travel to other PREL facilities or schools in the
Pacific region as needed.

Days/Hours of Work

One position each is available in the PREL Service Center Offices:
Guam, American Samoa, and Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
(CNMI) . Office open hours are from 8:30am to 5:00pm Monday thru
Friday. This is an exempt position and requires availability beyond
office hours, including weekends and evenings as necessary.

Physical Demands

Requires occasional lifting and moving of items up to 30 pounds.

Communication Demands

Strong oral and written communication skills, including the ability to
communicate effectively with a non-technical audience, and clearly
document systems, decisions, and recommendations. Must have
demonstrated interpersonal skills in a multicultural setting.

Qualifications  Skills & Knowledge

• Extensive understanding and knowledge of instructing and assessing
ELL students grades K – 12 in the Pacific.
• Highly developed skills in working with Pacific multicultural settings.
• Knowledge of the educational systems in the entities PREL serves.
• Understanding of and ability to articulate the issues that impact
measuring English language proficiency in Pacific students.
• Familiar with assessment development process and items statistics.
Education
• Master's degree preferred -ELL, ESL, or related field.
• Five years experience at the elementary and secondary grades (ELL preferred).
• Minimum three years experience working in multicultural settings
with diverse staffs and cultures.
• Minimum three years experience with ELL assessment preferred.

Other Experience

• Excellent communication, management, organizational, and
interpersonal skills;
• A high degree of flexibility and openness to a changing environment;
• Ability to travel to remote areas.
• Excellent computer skills and a working knowledge of databases, the
Internet, and electronic mail.
• Successful experience working as a team member with staff, partners,
and constituents.
• Experience working in documented large-scale research study desirable.

Terms of Employment

Employment is "at will" and can be terminated at any time, either by
the employee or PREL, with or without cause or reason and with or
without notice. This is a regular position, and is available
immediately. The project is currently funded for 18 months. Continued
employment beyond this term is dependent upon performance and funding.