Duties
APPLICATION LIMIT: This vacancy announcement is limited to the first 150 applications received and will close at 11:59PM Eastern Time on the day that we receive the 150th application, or at 11:59PM Eastern Time on the listed closing date, whichever occurs first.
We encourage you to read this entire vacancy announcement prior to submitting your application.
As a Statistician (Education) (Assessment Design Specialist), GS-1530-13, you will be responsible for:
- Leveraging experience in sampling, design and analysis to measure student knowledge and skills within the context of national assessments.
- Serving as a Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) on one or more contracts. In conjunction with program leadership, developing project technical specifications, preparing procurement requests, and assisting the Contracting Officer in proposal review, source selection, and other aspects of the procurement process. Post-award, monitoring contractor’s technical, managerial, and financial performance through on-site inspections, document reviews, and meetings with key personnel.
- Providing technical consultation and guidance to IES leadership and other stakeholders on all facets of the program of work, including sampling and weighting, study design, data analysis, interpretation of findings, and the application of advanced methods and techniques.
As a Statistician (Education) (Reporting and Analysis Specialist), GS-1530-13, you will be responsible for:
- Leveraging expertise in reporting and analysis of student assessment data to ensure quality and accuracy of NAEP data and products.
- Serving as a Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) on one or more contracts. In conjunction with program leadership, developing project technical specifications, preparing procurement requests, and assisting the Contracting Officer in proposal review, source selection, and other aspects of the procurement process. Post-award, monitoring contractor’s technical, managerial, and financial performance through on-site inspections, document reviews, and meetings with key personnel.
- Synthesizing statistical and analytical work into materials and presentations for internal and external stakeholders.
Requirements
Conditions of Employment
- Relocation will not be paid.
- Males 18 and over must be registered with the Selective Service.
- Must be a US Citizen
- You may be subject to serve a one-year probationary period.
- Must complete a Background Investigation and Fingerprint check.
You must meet all qualification requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this vacancy announcement.
Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills, and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. We will consider all qualifying experience, including any volunteer experience.
Qualifications
Minimum Qualification Requirements
You may meet the minimum qualifications for the GS-13, if you possess the specialize experience below.
Specialized Experience for the GS-13
One year of experience in either federal or non-federal service that is equivalent to at least a GS-12 performing two (2) out of three (3) of the following duties or work assignments:
1. Experience working on teams responsible for sampling, design, and analysis of student assessments, such as National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) or statewide assessment programs.
2. Experience supporting the acquisition of education research services that support the sampling, design, implementation, or analysis of national or state-wide student assessment programs.
3. Experience in preparing technical documentation, analyses, or other assessment-related materials that effectively communicate highly technical statistical and operational information to internal and external stakeholders so that they understand, and responsibly use, assessment data.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs) - Assessment Design Specialist, GS-1530-13
- Knowledge of sampling, design, and data analysis techniques appropriate for a national assessment of students' academic knowledge.
- Knowledge of monitoring contracts that have been issued to procure work in the education sciences.
- Ability to present data and analysis orally and in writing to internal and external stakeholders.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs) - Reporting and Analysis Specialist, GS-1530-13
- Knowledge and skill in the analysis and reporting of data from national assessments in accordance with IES standards for rigor.
- Knowledge of how to effectively monitor contracts that have been issued to procure work in the education sciences, so that the government’s requirements are fully met in a manner that is as efficient as possible.
- Ability to present data and analysis orally and in writing to internal and external stakeholders.
Education
This position has a positive education requirement.
STATISTICS GS-1530
A. Degree: that included 15 semester hours in statistics (or in mathematics and statistics, provided at least 6 semester hours were in statistics), and 9 additional semester hours in one or more of the following: physical or biological sciences, medicine, education, or engineering; or in the social sciences including demography, history, economics, social welfare, geography, international relations, social or cultural anthropology, health sociology, political science, public administration, psychology, etc. Credit toward meeting statistical course requirements should be given for courses in which 50 percent of the course content appears to be statistical methods, e.g., courses that included studies in research methods in psychology or economics such as tests and measurements or business cycles, or courses in methods of processing mass statistical data such as tabulating methods or electronic data processing
or
B. Combination of education and experience -- courses as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. The experience should have included a full range of professional statistical work such as (a) sampling, (b) collecting, computing, and analyzing statistical data, and (c) applying statistical techniques such as measurement of central tendency, dispersion, skewness, sampling error, simple and multiple correlation, analysis of variance, and tests of significance.
Foreign Education:
Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet education requirements if you can show that the foreign education is comparable to that received in an accredited educational institution in the United States. It is your responsibility to provide such evidence when applying. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must submit a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, please click Foreign Education.
Benefits
A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.
As an ED employee, you will also benefit from our family-friendly work environment. As part of our commitment to maintain a work life balance, we offer excused leave for Parent/Teacher Conferences (3 hours); excused leave for annual health screenings (4 hours); and matching leave for community volunteer service. Other flexibilities that may be available to you include alternative work schedules. You may be eligible to receive a recruitment incentive for this position. To receive this incentive payment, you will be required to sign a service agreement obligating you to remain with the U.S. Department of Education for a specified period as agreed upon. You may be eligible to receive a relocation incentive for this position. To receive this incentive payment, you will be required to sign a service agreement obligating you to remain with the U.S. Department of Education for a specified period as agreed upon. You may be eligible to participate in the Student Loan Repayment Program as a recruitment incentive for this position. To receive student loan repayments, you will be required to sign a service agreement obligating you to remain with the U.S. Department of Education for a specified period as agreed upon.
Review our benefits
Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.
How You Will Be Evaluated
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
We will review your application and documentation submitted to ensure you meet the basic qualification requirements. We will refer the best qualified candidates to the Selecting Official of the job for further review and consideration. You will be evaluated to determine if you meet qualifications required, and on the extent to which your application shows that you possess the knowledge, skills and abilities associated with this position as defined below. Please be sure to give examples in your resume and explain how often you used these skills, the complexity of the knowledge you possessed, the level of people you interacted with, and the complexity and sensitivity of the issues you handled.
CTAP/ICTAP candidates must be rated and determined to be well qualified (or above), based on an evaluation of their applications; possessing the knowledge, skills, and abilities which clearly exceed the minimum qualification requirements for the position.
You may preview questions for this vacancy.
Required Documents
You must submit (REQUIRED FOR ALL APPLICANTS):
If you are claiming Veteran's Preference, you must submit: A copy of your DD-214 that shows active service and character of discharge, OR A certification of expected discharge or release from active duty under honorable conditions within 120 days from the date of application (Current Active Duty Members only); AND/OR The Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference (SF-15) AND all documents indicated on the form as proof of type of preference; AND/OR Proof of Sole Survivorship Preference (e.g., certificate of death or 100% disability as a result of serving in the armed forces).
Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP), or Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP): Visit the https://www2.ed.gov/about/jobs/open/edhires/ictap.html or https://www2.ed.gov/about/jobs/open/edhires/ctap.html for information on how to apply as a CTAP, or ICTAP eligible. To exercise selection priority for this vacancy, CTAP/ICTAP candidates must meet the basic eligibility requirements and all selective factors. CTAP/ICTAP candidates must be rated and determined to be well qualified (or above) based on an evaluation of the competencies listed in the How You Will Be Evaluated section.
If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:
Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from
schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.
How to Apply
Step 1: Create a USAJOBS account (if you do not already have one) at www.usajobs.gov.
Step 2: Create a resume using the USAJOBS resume builder or upload a resume into your USAJOBS account. Ensure that your resume demonstrates your education, experience, training, and accomplishments as it relates to the qualifications for this position and substantiates your responses to the occupational questionnaire.
Step 3: Upload any required documents into your USAJOBS account (must be less than 3MB and in one of the following document formats: GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, PDF, or Word (DOC or DOCX)).
Step 4: Click "Apply Online" and follow the prompts to complete the occupational questionnaire and attach any required documents. Verify that uploaded documents from USAJOBS transfer into the agency's hiring system. You will have the opportunity to upload any additional required documents in the agency's hiring system. Click “Finish” to submit your application.
NOTE: You may update your application or required documents at any time while the announcement is open by logging into your USAJOBS account, clicking on "Application Status," clicking on the position title, clicking "Update Application,” and following the prompts.
In order to receive consideration for this position, you must submit your complete application, including all required documents, by 11:59 PM Eastern Time on the closing date of the vacancy announcement. If the vacancy announcement has an application limit, we recommend that you submit your complete application at the time of initial application. We will not accept any required documentation after the closing date of the vacancy announcement.
If you have any questions regarding submitting your application, please contact the HR Specialist listed under the Agency Contact Information.
Next steps
As an applicant, you may check your application status through your USAJOBS account at any time. We will also notify you via email of your application status at three key stages in the recruitment process.
1. Once the vacancy announcement closes, we will inform you that your application has been received.
2. After we review your submitted resume and supporting documentation, we will inform you if you are eligible and qualified, if your application was referred to a subject matter expert or panel of subject matter experts for further evaluation, and if you were amongst the most highly qualified candidates referred to the selecting official.
3. Finally, we will inform you of your final disposition for this announcement (e.g., if/when a selection is made, if/when the announcement is cancelled).