Data Analyst 1

University of Chicago•Minneapolis, MN

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Data Analyst I will support the work of To&Through’s Data & Research Team (DART). This role will primarily support the maintenance for and presentation of the To&Through Online Data Tool. The successful candidate will contribute to the organization’s capacity to provide quantitative data on the educational journeys of Chicago Public School students. The position requires someone with data manipulation, quantitative research, and programming skills, as well as a passion for doing meaningful work to improve schools. The Data Analyst I will be responsible for cleaning and building large-scale datasets and creating data documentation for new projects, as well as conducting detailed statistical analyses for research studies. The successful candidate will have a commitment to equity and urban education, be deeply curious, and be willing to learn new methods and topics. The Data Analyst I position requires someone who is able to handle multiple concurrent tasks and projects and work in a highly collaborative environment. This is a grant funded position, where the primary grant end date is 5/31/2027, with an expected renewal term end date of 5/31/2030. If the grant is not renewed and/or substitute grant funding isn’t identified, the position will end in alignment with grant end dates.

Requirements

Minimum requirements include a college or university degree in related field.
Minimum requirements include knowledge and skills developed through < 2 years of work experience in a related job discipline.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree in education, policy studies, statistics, computer science, data science, or other relevant social science or mathematical discipline.
Experience in urban education, education research, policy, and practice.
Experience with cleaning data and building data sets.
Familiarity with one or more programming languages and the ability to use or learn to use R.
Experience with and demonstrated use of descriptive statistics.
Ability to take initiative and a proactive approach to tasks and projects.
Familiarity with or interest in multiple data types (e.g. spatial and hierarchical data).
Experience in data storytelling and presenting research to a wide range of audiences.
Interest in web design and user experience.
Passion for improving education outcomes and supporting actionable uses of research evidence.
Commitment to understanding and improving outcomes for students of all backgrounds and experiences.
Excellent interpersonal skills, with the ability to work independently, with supervision, and in collaboration as a team member.
Excellent written and oral communication skills.
Exceptional organizational skills and attention to detail.
Experience with or willingness to learn git workflows.

Responsibilities

Create specialized databases by merging multiple, complex data sources, including school-, student-, community-, and neighborhood-based files.
Perform data quality assurance for data libraries, including updating documentation and improving internal processes.
Maintain backend code processes for the To&Through Online Data Tool, including updating and uploading the data and supporting the creation of new features.
Facilitate workshops on education research and the use of data tools for education practitioners.
Conduct statistical analysis of large-scale databases using R, including both simple descriptive group comparisons and statistical modeling.
Create effective displays of findings.
Contribute to conceptualizing, designing, and planning research projects, framing research questions, and identifying appropriate data sources from the Consortium data library.
Review pertinent literature and write literature summaries.
Contribute to the writing of reports and articles.
Help manage project timelines, schedule meetings, and other project administrative tasks.
Actively participate in organization-wide activities, including serving on committees, attending weekly meetings, providing support for event facilitation, presenting findings, and providing feedback on other researchers’ work.
Support the creation of data tools for the Middle Grades Network.
Maintains technical and administrative support for a research project.
Analyzes and maintains data and/or specimens.
Conducts literature reviews.
Assists with preparation of reports, manuscripts and other documents.
Performs other related work as needed.