Research Associate - Identifying and nurturing Math Talent at Scale: An experiment with AoPS self-paced classes in Tamil Nadu, India - J-PAL South Asia

Country: India

Project: Identifying and nurturing Math Talent at Scale: An experiment with AoPS self-paced classes in Tamil Nadu, India

Start Date (earliest): August 1st 2024

Base Location: Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

Length of Commitment: 1 year

Education: Bachelor’s/Master’s 

Organization: J-PAL South Asia at IFMR 

Language requirement: Tamil & English required

Principal Investigators: Paolo Adajar, Esther Duflo, Glenn Ellison, Sara Ellison, Harini Kannan

 Job Description:

The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) J-PAL was established in 2003 as a research center at the Economics Department at MIT. Since then, it has grown into a global network of researchers who use randomized evaluations to answer critical policy questions in the fight against poverty. J-PAL is propelled by a team dedicated to research, policy, training, and other vital work, supporting J-PAL's mission to reduce poverty by ensuring that policy is informed by scientific evidence.

J-PAL South Asia, the regional office which is based at the Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR) in India, analyses and disseminates research results and builds partnerships with policymakers to ensure that policy is driven by evidence, and that programs proven effective are scaled up. For more information on J-PAL SA, please see http://www.povertyactionlab.org/south-asia.

Project Description:

The vast majority of the world’s children now attend school, but most of them do not learn very much while there. Considerable work shows that schools in many low- and middle-income countries offer rigid curricula that are not adapted to the vast majority of the students. Most of our work so far has focused on helping students who are falling behind. But the universal curriculum also hinders very talented, but poor, students, who have no access to advanced curriculum in middle and high school and may therefore never have a chance to attend a good college (let alone to attend college at all). 

 In this project, partnering with Art of Problem Solving (AoPS) and the Government of Tamil Nadu, we will test whether advanced online coursework and tutoring can identify and support high achievers in mathematics in rural Tamil Nadu. In a randomized controlled trial, we will offer high-potential students from low- and middle-income areas access to an online self-paced pre-algebra course through AoPS and an internet-enabled tablet. Some of these studens will additionally receive access to a math tutor, to provide further support through weekly tutoring sessions. We will then evaluate how course access affects students’ later academic success, including test scores, enrollment at selective high schools, college matriculation, and pursuit of STEM.

Roles and Responsibilities:

The Research Associate will work closely with Principal Investigators and the field team to perform a variety tasks including, but not limited to:

• Supporting design of survey questionnaires, conducting qualitative research, running pilot exercises, and refining study design and survey instruments.
• Coding error-free and rigorously tested digital versions of survey instruments and setting up data workflows for the same.
• Recruiting, training, and supervising both field-based and data operations teams consisting of project assistants, field managers, field-based surveyors, data entry operators and other field and office staff. Designing data collection plans based on project timelines and logistics.
• Collaborating with the partner organization and the government to pilot, design, and implement the intervention in accordance with the research design.
• Monitoring data collection and entry to ensure highest data quality across different phases of the project by devising effective and efficient quality monitoring systems.
• Assisting with data cleaning, preliminary data analysis, and maintain extensive and efficient data documentation.
• Coordinating with the Administrative and Finance team on a variety of tasks related to field staff and vendor contracting and payments.
• Ensuring that the project complies with IRB and JPAL data collection and security protocols with the help of the Research Manager
• Supporting Literature Reviews and Document Preparation: Conducting literature reviews and writing reports and manuscripts. 
• Assisting in preparation of documents and presentations for donor reporting as well as dissemination activities.
• Maintaining relationships with various government and partner organisation stakeholders at state, district, block, and school levels.
• Working closely with J-PAL’s Policy team to develop memos, presentations, and other knowledge products and communication materials for use in advocacy and capacity building with government partners. 
•  Maintain comprehensive project documentation, such as manuals, logs, codebooks, and readme files including any issues and key decisions taken for improvements
• Reporting to PIs on all of the above mentioned activities.
• Any other task as assigned by the Research Manager, and/or by the Principal Investigators.

Desired Qualifications and Experience:

• Bachelor's/Master's degree in economics, mathematics, education, social sciences, public policy or related fields.
• Experience of 0-2 years, especially working in development research or education sector, preferred.
• Excellent people management and organizational skills.
• Strong quantitative and qualitative research skills
• Proficiency in data collection and/or acquisition
• Knowledge of Stata (strongly preferred) or statistical analysis software or programming languages, along with proficiency in Microsoft Office.
• Proficiency in digital data collection tools like SurveyCTO, Qualtrics, etc. including end-to-end management of data flows.
• Fluency and excellent communication skills in English and Tamil is required.
• Flexible, self-motivating, independent, and skilled to manage multiple tasks efficiently.
• Team player with the ability to deal with unstructured and changing environments.
• Attention to detail and a relentless attitude for solution-seeking to unexpected challenges in complex contexts
• Experience and/or willingness to travel and work in rural field locations.
• Demonstrated ability to manage high-level relationships with partner organizations, including governments, preferred.
• Familiarity with randomized controlled trials/clinical trials/quasi-experiments preferred

Note on Work Authorizations:

Candidates must have work authorization to work in India.