Fast Facts

Join AIR as a NAEP Doctoral Student Intern for a 10-week paid internship focusing on statistical methods and educational data analysis, providing valuable experience in large-scale assessments with potential travel for onboarding.

Responsibilities: Interns will develop statistical methods and conduct research that informs educational decisions, with projects tailored to their skills and interests, including presentations and proposal submissions.

Skills: Required skills include experience with statistical software (like Mplus, Python, R, and Stata) and knowledge of statistical and psychometric methods; advanced visualization and AI understanding are desirable for specific areas.

Qualifications: Candidates must be current doctoral students or have a relevant master's degree, with two years of coursework completed in fields such as statistics, psychology, or educational measurement.

Location: This internship is remote with a travel requirement to Arlington, VA for onboarding.

Compensation: $40 - $40 / Hourly

Overview

Join AIR as a NAEP Doctoral Student Intern with our Education Statistics team. The mission of the NAEP Doctoral Student Internship Program is to support current doctoral students by providing an opportunity to engage in methodological developments and secondary analysis using data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). During the 10-week internship program, interns will work directly with researchers from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and the American Institutes for Research (AIR) on research in topic areas such as psychometrics and statistical methods, process data, policy-relevant research, re-envisioning quantitative information (data visualization), and artificial intelligence. Doctoral interns will collaborate with teams on client-based projects and gain technical skills and knowledge in the field of large-scale assessment.

Please visit https://naep-research.airprojects.org/Explore-Opportunities/Internship-Program for more information about the internship topic areas.

Internship details:

Ten weeks starting June 2, 2025
The internship will be a remote program with one travel experience to Arlington, VA within the first week of the internship for onboarding and training. Additional travel may occur towards the end of the summer. All travel and lodging expenses will be fully covered by the program.
This is a paid internship.
Interns will receive an AIR-issued laptop to complete project work.

Application process:

Apply online (detailed requirements below):
Deadline: February 1, 2025

Candidates hired for the position may work remotely within the United States (U.S.) or from one of our U.S. office locations. This does not include U.S. territories.

About AIR:

Established in 1946, with headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, AIR is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit institution that conducts behavioral and social science research and delivers technical assistance to solve some of the most urgent challenges in the U.S. and around the world. We advance evidence in the areas of education, health, the workforce, human services, and international development to create a better, more equitable world.

AIR’s commitment to diversity goes beyond legal compliance to its full integration in our strategy, operations, and work environment. At AIR, we define diversity broadly, considering everyone’s unique life and community experiences. We believe that embracing diverse perspectives, abilities/disabilities, racial/ethnic and cultural backgrounds, styles, ages, genders, gender identities and expressions, education backgrounds, and life stories drives innovation and employee engagement. Learn more about AIR's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Strategy and hear from our staff by clicking here.

Responsibilities

The responsibilities for the position include:

The doctoral student interns will contribute to the development of statistical methods and substantive knowledge about education that inform the discussion, debate, and planning of decision-makers at national, state, and local levels. Specific research topics and project assignments will be based on a consideration of applicants’ skills and interests as well as NCES’s priorities. Examples of past projects can be found on our alumni page under each Intern Cohort at https://naep-research.airprojects.org/Explore-Opportunities/Internship-Alumni. Example opportunities include presentations to the NCES client and proposal submissions to research conferences.

Qualifications

Education, Knowledge, and Experience:

Must be a current doctoral student (for the duration of the internship) in educational measurement, statistics, information sciences, sociology, psychology, economics, computer science, or a related field
Have completed two years of coursework in a doctoral program or hold a master’s degree completed in a relevant field by the time of internship
Experience with applying advanced statistical and/or psychometric methods
Experience analyzing data from large-scale surveys and assessment data with complex sampling design is an asset

Skills:

Software skills:
Proven experience with statistical software such as, but not limited to, Mplus, Python, R, and Stata
Additional qualifications for re-envisioning quantitative information applicants: demonstrable advanced experience with R and creating data visualizations using the software, as well as familiarity with developing reports
Additional qualifications for artificial intelligence applicants: familiarity with generative models like transformers (e.g., GPT-4) and cloud services, good understanding of ethical AI principles, experience with NLP methods such as topic modeling, and experience in evaluating AI using appropriate metrics
Strong organizational and interpersonal skills.

Additional application requirements:

All applicants must submit a cover letter expressing their interest and qualifications for a primary and secondary area of interest. Areas of interest are:

Psychometrics & Statistical Methods
Process Data
Policy-Relevant Research
Re-envisioning Quantitative Information (Data Visualization)
Artificial Intelligence.

Please note, only candidates selected for an interview will be asked to provide a writing sample and a letter of recommendation at a later date. Candidates should expect to demonstrate their coding and analytical skills during interview process. Please visit http://naep-research.airprojects.org/Opportunities/Internship for more information about the program.

Disclosures:

International students who are studying at an accredited U.S. college or university under F1 visas are eligible to apply under Curricular Practical Training (CPT) stipulations.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without discrimination on the basis of age, race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity/expression, sexual orientation, national origin, protected veteran status, or disability.

AIR adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo reference and background checks.

This position offers $40.00 per hour. Salary offers are made based on internal equity within the organization and external equity with competitive markets. Please note this is the salary for candidates that are based in the United States.

AIR maintains a drug-free work environment.

Fraudulent Job Scams Warning & Disclaimer:

AIR is aware of individuals falsely presenting themselves as AIR representatives. Fraudulent job scams seek to extract sensitive information or money from victims. To protect yourself, please be aware that AIR recruitment will only email you from an “@air.org” domain. Please take extra caution while examining the email address, for example jdoe@air.org is correct and jdoe@aircareers.org is not a legitimate AIR email address. If you are unsure of the legitimacy of a communication you have received, please reach out to recruitment@air.org.

If you see a job scam, or lose money to one, report it to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. You can also report it to your state attorney general. Find out more about how to avoid scams at ftc.gov/scams.

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