General Summary:
The Post-Doctoral Research Fellow will join the UMass Boston team of a Goal Two, Institute of Education Sciences-funded study, which is a two-site study located at UMass Boston (UMB site PI: Abbey Eisenhower, UMB Collaborators: Mel Collier-Meek and Alice Carter) and the University of California Riverside (Study PI: Jan Blacher, UCR Collaborator: Austin Johnson). The study’s goal is to partner with early elementary teachers to develop, implement, and test a teacher-focused program to improve general education teachers’ readiness to work with students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The resulting professional development and intervention program is aimed at improving student-teacher relationship quality and social and academic outcomes for young children with ASD.
The Post-Doctoral Research Fellow will be responsible for program management responsibilities, including but not limited to, collaborating with teachers and schools, implementing the teacher-focused program and disseminating aspects of the program. This is a one-year, grant-funded position with the possibility of renewal for an additional one-three years.
Examples of Duties:
• Under the supervision of a PI and in collaboration with the other identified PIs and Co-PIs, oversee all phases of the study; assist in conducting focus groups and interviews with teachers; assist in creation of program materials and deliver the program to teachers, including providing training and performance feedback;
• Collaborate with staff across the two study sites and assist the site Principal Investigators (PIs) in supervising undergraduate and doctoral students (primarily Clinical Psychology Ph.D. students) on the program;
• Participate in weekly research team meetings and work with other staff to deliver the program;
• Engage in analysis and writing of findings, as author or co-author when substantively involved, and in sharing results with stakeholder audiences;
• The post-doc will also have the opportunity to write and publish on existing datasets;
• Perform other duties as assigned.
Qualifications:
PhD in School Psychology, Clinical Psychology, or Special Education, with training in developmental disabilities, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and school-based interventions, including extensive experience working closely with teachers or direct classroom experience, is required.
Preferred Qualifications:
• Experience with focus groups or interview-based data collection, intervention development, intervention implementation, or program dissemination is preferred;
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:
• Knowledge of Microsoft Office suite;
• Familiarity with statistical packages (e.g., SPSS, STATA)
• Ability to work as a member of a team;
• Ability to protect confidentiality of participant information;
• Ability to provide leadership to others through example and sharing of knowledge and skills;
• Ability to establish effective relationships with internal team members, teacher and parent research participants, and community members;
• Strong oral and written communication skills;
• Strong attention to detail;
• Strong organizational skills;
• Strong commitment to research ethics;
• Strong commitment to customer service.
Application Instructions:
Please apply online at this link with your resume, cover letter and list of three references. Contact abbey.eisenhower@umb.edu with questions.
Review of candidates will begin following the application closing date.
Salary Range: $48,000.00 – $53,000.00
This is a non-union position.
Applications close: 17 Oct 2018 Eastern Daylight Time