Limited Term Researcher, College of Education and Human Development

As part of the application process, candidates must provide a published writing sample relevant to the role. Submissions may be provided as an attachment and should represent work substantially authored by the applicant.

Context of job: The College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) is a diversified college with undergraduate and graduate programs that require a close working relationship with the State of Delaware, federal agencies, local school systems, and numerous health and service agencies.

The CEHD houses the Delaware Institute for Excellence in Early Childhood (DIEEC), which supports early childhood workforce and programming services for children aged six weeks to twelve years of age through the translation of evidence-based practices as well as the generation of new knowledge via applied research. The federally-funded Center for Home-Based Child Care (HBCC) Research focuses on three core goals: 1) advancing research to inform efforts to build HBCC supply and availability and increase access to HBCC arrangements, 2) building capacity and supporting research and evaluation partnerships among emerging scholars and local communities interested in understanding HBCC supply and access, and 3) communicating research findings for a range of audiences, including researchers, policymakers, HBCC providers, and those who support them.

Supporting the Center for Home-Based Child Care Research, this Limited Term Researcher works under the limited direction of the Senior Data Scientist at DIEEC. The LTR will be responsible for performing research and project coordination duties on a variety of policy-relevant research studies related to supporting the supply and quality of home-based child care. The LTR will work closely with the Center for Home-Based Child Care Research team’s PIs and research staff. This is a 12-month, full-time (negotiable), grant-funded position; extension may be possible based on the availability of future grant funding. In addition to competitive salary and full benefits, the Fellow will be given time to conduct independent research of their own. Opportunities for teaching may be available if of interest. Major responsibilities: • Support protocol development, participant recruitment, and quantitative/qualitative data collection (primarily by phone and/or Zoom).
• Conduct qualitative and/or quantitative data analysis in collaboration with other team members, including both PIs and research assistants.
• Assist with the development and dissemination of literature reviews, policy scans, reports, journal articles, presentations, and other products.
• Attend weekly team meetings and regularly communicate with team members, research partners, and community members (including policymakers, administrators, home-based child care educators, families).
• Perform other job-related duties as assigned. Qualifications: • Doctoral degree (or ABD) in early childhood education, human development, psychology, public policy, public health, social work, or a related field required.
• Knowledge of early care and education policies, systems, workforce, and/or landscape.
• Familiarity with home-based child care (licensed family child care and/or family, friend, and neighbor care) strongly preferred.
• Experience interacting with economically, culturally, and linguistically diverse communities.
• Extensive experience collecting, managing, and analyzing quantitative and/or qualitative data using relevant software (e.g., Stata, SPSS, R, Nvivo, Dedoose).
• Excellent verbal communication and academic writing skills.
• Experiencing translating research for a general audience preferred.
• Willingness and flexibility for weekend or evening data collection activities as needed, with flex time granted.
• Strong organizational, interpersonal, and management skills.
• Ability to work independently and with groups.