Senior Manager, Scoring & Reporting

Job Information
Job Title: Senior Manager, Scoring & Reporting 
Job Requisition ID: 65166
Ministry: Education
Location: Edmonton
Full or Part-Time: Full Time
Hours of Work: 36.25 hours per week
Permanent/Temporary: Permanent
Scope: Open Competition
Closing Date: December 17, 2024.
Classification: Senior Manager Zone 1 (M42Z1)  
Salary: $3,548.95 to $4,842.27 bi-weekly ($92,627–$126,383/year)

 

The Government of Alberta is committed to a diverse and inclusive public service that reflects the population we serve to best meet the needs of Albertans. Consider joining a team where diversity, inclusion and innovation are valued and supported. For more information on diversity and inclusion, please visit: https://www.alberta.ca/diversity-inclusion-policy.aspx.

 

Alberta Education supports students, parents, teachers, and administrators from Early Childhood Service (ECS) through Grade 12. Through safe and caring schools for all students, Alberta’s government is making life better by investing in education, one of the most important investments we can make in our future. The ministry has the following responsibilities: develop curriculum and set standards; evaluate curriculum and assess outcomes; teacher development and certification; support students with diverse learning needs.
 

For more information on the Ministry of Education, please visit https://www.alberta.ca/education.

 

System Excellence Division
 

System Excellence is responsible for the areas of teaching and leadership excellence and provincial assessment. This includes certification of all teachers, principals, and superintendents in the province; developing and implementing professional practice standards; and conducting practice assurance in relation to the teaching profession. System Excellence division also develops, administers, marks, and continually improves Alberta’s provincial assessments, including the provincial achievement tests (PATs), diploma exams, and literacy/numeracy assessments.

Role Responsibilities

The Ministry of Education has an exciting opportunity and is looking for a Senior Manager, Scoring and Reporting, to join our team!

 

The Senior Manager, Scoring and Reporting, leads psychometricians and analysts in the analytics unit and is responsible for providing psychometric advice regarding the design, development, and enhancement of testing, marking, scoring, and results reporting for all provincial assessments (PATs, diploma exams, and literacy/numeracy assessments), as well as the new Canadian Adult Education Credential (CAEC) assessments multiple times each school year.
 

In addition to providing psychometric oversight and IT support for current provincial assessments and the new CAEC assessments, the unit’s advice is also required for the new digital online assessment solutions.
 

The incumbent will lead, oversee, and coordinate psychometric/IT support, the equating process, and the preparation for Diploma Exam Equating Meetings and Provincial Achievement Test (PAT) Standards Confirmation Meetings.
 
Responsibilities:
 

1. Manages and coordinates the psychometricians and analysts to ensure that the scoring and reporting for early years screening assessments, PATs, and diploma exams follow the sector’s established business rules and proper procedures and are completed on time without error. This position is also the province’s representative for the psychometric oversight required for CAEC.
2. Leads, oversees, and coordinates psychometric/IT support, equating process, and the preparation for Diploma Exam Equating Meetings and PAT Standards Confirmation Meetings.
3. Provides leadership and services related to provincial assessments’ scoring, reporting, data analysis, and information requests.
4. Receives and responds to the field’s various inquiries including FOIP requests associated with the provincial assessments’ scoring, reporting and interpretations.
5. Reviews and assigns data/information requests to psychometricians and analysts and monitors the accuracy of the data to be provided.
6. Maintains a comprehensive understanding of the sector’s data held in ministry files to effectively deal with stakeholder information requirements and requests.
7. Leads, conceives, designs, and produces secondary analysis reports and/or cutting-edge graphs (e.g., multiyear rollup, prior level of achievement, diploma exam completion rates) at various levels using provincial assessment data. 
8. Initiates and provides ad hoc reporting services as well as information/data requests from the sector, the Assistant Deputy Minister (ADM) and department, and from stakeholders, school authorities, schools, parents, students, and members of the public.
9. Collaborates with the sector’s Directors and Assessment Specialists/Diploma Exam Leads and leads the analytics unit to develop and monitor the implementation of sound, consistent, and feasible scoring and reporting business rules (e.g., third-read identification rules) across branches.  
10. Collaborates with the System Assurance Branch, Education Policy and Planning Branch, and the Provincial Approach to Student Information (PASI) team and provides leadership and psychometric expertise in assurance and public reporting with respect to initiating new reports and developing reporting policies to ensure that student achievement in provincial assessments is appropriately presented and soundly interpreted in the Annual Report, news releases, and various levels of detailed reports, regular multiyear reports and subgroup multiyear reports.
     

Please click on this link to view the job description for this position.

APS Competencies

Competencies are behaviours that are essential to reach our goals in serving Albertans. We encourage you to have an in-depth understanding of the competencies that are required for this opportunity and to be prepared to demonstrate them during the recruitment process.

The link below will assist you with understanding competencies: Search: https://www.alberta.ca/system/files/custom_downloaded_images/psc-alberta-public-service-competency-model.pdf.

Critical Competencies:
 

• Systems Thinking: This position conceives, designs, and conducts policy-based research studies to inform sector and division decision making. It also identifies, through research and development activity, findings assessment and information technology-related issues and trends that have strategic, operational, and budget implications for the sector and division.
• Creative Problem Solving: This position must be able to critically analyze provincial data and initiate, manage, and coordinate projects that serve the psychometrically driven business needs of the sector.
• Build Collaborative Environments: Leads and contributes to the conditions and environments that allow people to work collaboratively and productively to achieve outcomes.
• Agility: This position must recognize the changing landscape of education in Canada, anticipate changing priorities, and embrace the challenges presented by working with various stakeholders. This position must also pro-actively incorporate change into processes if required.
• Drive for Results: This position understands the impact that fair, valid, and reliable provincial assessments have on students’ academic goals. This position also understands the need to ensure that results are reported in a timely fashion according to established schedules and maximizes scoring validity and accuracy when presented with unique situations and events.

Qualifications

Requirement:
 

Master’s degree in a related field plus five years related experience or equivalent as described below.
 

Or
 

Bachelor’s degree in related field and seven years of related experience.
 

Equivalency: Directly related education or experience considered on the basis of:

• 1 year of education for 1 year of experience; or
• 1 year of experience for 1 year of education
   

Leadership experience in a related field is a requirement.
 

Assets:

• Preference will be given to candidates who have leadership experience or experience with provincial assessment development, marking, and scoring.
• Knowledge and experience in psychometric statistics used to build and test custom scoring and reporting systems.
• Knowledge of databases for the psychometric aspects of sector systems and functions using software applications such as SPSS, EQS, SIBTEST, Bilog, CIPE, Parscale, TESTGRAF, Visual Basic, MS Access, MS Excel, R Package, Python, etc.
• Broad knowledge of ministry and Government of Alberta (GoA) policies, procedures, and business plans.
• Applicable legislation, regulation, and policy guidelines (e.g., Education Act, Sustainable Fiscal Planning and Reporting Act, Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (FOIP) Act, Guide to Education, Funding Manual for School Authorities, etc.).
• Knowledge of data and reporting requirements of school authorities.
• Broad understanding of infrastructure, communication protocols, standards, and ministry technology tools.
• Effective communication skills: verbal, non-verbal, and written.

Notes

This is one (1) permanent, full-time position working 36.25 hours per week, Monday to Friday.
 

This position is based in Edmonton. We require you to attach a Cover Letter with your application explaining your qualification and suitability for this role.
 

This competition may be used to fill future vacancies across the Government of Alberta, at equal or lower classification and salary.
 

The final candidates for this position will be asked to undergo an academic and reference check and provide a suitable security screening and may be asked to complete a written exercise and/or assessment.

 

For more information on the Government of Alberta (GoA) hiring process, visit Working for the Alberta Public Service - https://www.alberta.ca/advantages-working-for-alberta-public-service.aspx.
 

Links and information on what the GoA has to offer to prospective employees:
 

• Working for the Alberta Public Service - https://www.alberta.ca/advantages-working-for-alberta-public-service.aspx.
• Management Employees Pension Plans - Mepp Home - Management Employees Pension Plan. - https://www.mepp.ca/page/mepp-home.
• Alberta Public Service Benefit Information - https://www.alberta.ca/alberta-public-service-benefits.
• Professional learning and development - https://www.alberta.ca/professional-development-support-directive.
• Research Alberta Public Service Careers tool – https://researchapscareers.alberta.ca.
• Positive workplace culture and work-life balance.
• Opportunity to participate in flexible work arrangements such as working from home up to two days per week and modified work schedule agreement.
• Leadership and mentorship programs.

How To Apply
Applicants are advised to provide information that clearly and concisely demonstrates how their qualifications meet the advertised requirements, including education, experience, and relevant examples of required competencies.
 

Candidates are required to apply for a job online. Please visit https://www.alberta.ca/job-application-resources#before for more information. Please visit Recruitment Principles, for more information.
 

It is recommended applicants who have completed post-secondary studies from outside of Canada obtain an evaluation of their credentials from the International Qualifications Assessment Service (IQAS)(https://www.alberta.ca/international-qualifications-assessment.aspx) or from a recognized Canadian Credential Evaluator; please visit the Alliance of Credential Evaluation Services of Canada for more information (https://canalliance.org/en/default.html).
 

It is recommended that applicants include the assessment certificate from IQAS or any other educational assessment service as part of their application.
 

Closing Statement
This competition may be used to fill future vacancies, across the Government of Alberta, at the same or lower classification level.
 

We thank all applicants for their interest. All applications will be reviewed to determine which candidates' qualifications most closely match the advertised requirements. Only individuals selected for interviews will be contacted.

 

If you require any further information on this job posting or require an accommodation during the recruitment process, please contact Rashi Vaktania at Rashi.Vaktania@gov.ab.ca.