Senior Assessment Data Scientist

About Amira Learning

We believe every child deserves the chance to become a reader. We seek to help more students learn how to read than any other company in the world. Amira is a rapidly growing and renowned AI startup that was recently named by Business Insider as one of 30 startups to bet your career on. The company is the only education company in the Forbes Top 50 AI Companies, was a Time Magazine Best Invention of 2021, has been featured in the NY Times, selected as the “Future of Education” by the Wall Street Journal, won dozens of awards for software excellence, and has exploded into schools across the country.

Amira is the first, most widely used, and most effective AI-powered reading tutor. Amira is able to listen to young children read out loud, assess their mastery and deliver 1:1 personalized tutoring. Amira is a breakthrough innovation having a real impact on kids’ lives and societal equity. In independent testing done by State Education Agencies, Amira is the only edtech for reading that has proven effective. It is in use in schools in all 50 states and across 16 countries.

About this role

As a Senior Assessment Data Scientist, you will help Amira create the next generation literacy assessment. Already approved by many State DOEs and in use by hundreds of school districts, Amira is leveraging a combination of AI, IRT, and bayesian modeling to bring new levels of usability, reliability, validity, and actionability to reading assessment.

You will be a leading voice in our effort to evolve and improve the psychometrics underlying Amira’s universal screener, dyslexia screener and benchmark and progress monitoring assessments.

What You Will Do:

• Work with learning/reading scientists, psychometricians, data scientists, AI/ML experts, and engineers to build a modern and ground-breaking assessment combining the best of IRT, adaptive assessment, bayesian statistics, and AI
• Manage the process of item development, review, scaling (incl. vertical scaling), and standards alignment using the power of generative AI
• Design and implement algorithms to do equating, formative measurement from high-volume observational data, and analytics
• Collaborate on studies related to the assessment reliability, validity, and predictive accuracy
• Help to develop and evaluate responsible AI standards and practices
• Help to create and maintain Amira’s psychometric documentation and technical manuals
• Interface with school districts and educators to ensure high-fidelity implementation and interpretation of how the assessment works

Who You Are:

• You have a Ph.D. in statistics, psychometrics, data science, educational measurement, or a related field.
• You have experience in psychometrics, data science, and/or measurement as applied to K-12 (and especially K-8) assessments. Bonus points for:
  • Experience with CBM and norm referenced assessments
  • Experience with scaling and developing vertical scales
  • Having hands-on experience with an EdTech product
• You are future oriented, embracing the power of the latest technology to improve assessment, and an AI enthusiast.
• You are excited about working at the intersection of measurement and data science.
• You are enthusiastic about the idea of using LLMs to improve work and productivity and have incorporated these kinds of tools into your workflow.
• You are comfortable writing python and/or R code to perform data pulling, cleaning, and analysis.
• You have a solid understanding of bayesian statistics, IRT, and multi-stage testing (MST) and are keen on developing an assessment that combines the best of these tools.
• You have a strong appreciation for the tension between innovation and traditional assessment requirements for reliability and validity, and you like the idea of creatively solving problems at this intersection.
• You know how to solve real world problems and you want to see your work ship and positively impact millions of kids around the world.
• You have a desire to be at a Silicon Valley start-up, with the desire and commitment that requires.

Who We Are at Amira Learning:

• Flexibility – We encourage and support you to live and work where you desire. Amira works as a truly distributed team. We worked remotely before COVID and we’ll be working remotely after the pandemic is long gone. Our office is Slack. Our coffee room is Zoom. Our team works hard but we work when we want, where we want.
• Collaboration – We work together closely, using collaborative tools and periodic face to face get togethers. We believe great software is like movie-making. Lots of talented people with very different skills have to collaborate seamlessly to build a great experience.
• Lean & Agile -- We believe in ownership and continuous feedback. Yes, we employ scrum ceremonies. But, what we’re really after is using data and learning to be better and to do better for our teachers, students, and players.
• Mission-Driven – What’s important to us is helping kids. We’re about tangible, measured impact.

Amira Learning is proud to celebrate diversity and is committed to building an inclusive workplace regardless of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, age, parental status, military service, or other non-merit factors.

At Amira, we believe every child deserves the chance to become a reader. Join us to make that happen!