Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Special Education: Evidence-Based Practice in Early Intervention and Early Learning
Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Special Education:
Evidence-Based Practice in Early Intervention and Early Learning
This Postdoctoral Research Program at the Juniper Gardens Children’s Project (JGCP) is recruiting 2 postdoctoral researchers interested in developing expertise in designing, implementing and disseminating research carried out while developing evidence-based practices with community partners focused on early intervention, early care, and early education settings. The postdoctoral position is a full-time (100% FTE), 2 years, research-dedicated fellowship.
Postdoctoral researchers will learn and develop new advances in the prevention and intervention of learning and behavior problems in young children. The goal of the postdoctoral fellowship is to support trainees’ acquisition of knowledge, technical skills, and experiences critical for carrying out methodologically rigorous research with high relevance to early intervention practice and policy standards and prepare them with the skills needed to obtain external funding for their own independent research program. During the two-year fellowship, postdoctoral researchers) will design and implement independent research studies culminating in peer-reviewed publications and practice briefs, and presentations at professional conferences.
Competencies that are the particular focus of this postdoctoral fellowship program include the following:
Competencies in Early Childhood Content Areas
- Evidence-Based Practice: Skills for generating, synthesizing and translating research
- Multi-tiered System of Support (MTSS): Conceptual framework, multiple tiers of intervention support, and measures for screening, progress monitoring, and use this information for intervention decision making.
- Theory and intervention in language, early literacy, and social-emotional development for children across diverse cultural and language groups.
Competencies in Methodological Content Areas. Knowledge and skills for conducting:
- Rigorous experimental single case and randomized-control trial designs
- Univariate and latent growth modeling techniques (i.e., multilevel HLM, SEM) including treatment of missing values
- Research synthesis methods
Professional Competencies. Expertise will be developed in the following areas:
- Research communications (e.g., writing for peer-reviewed journals, grant writing, reviewing for journals, research presentations; dissemination to diverse professional, practitioner, and lay audiences via traditional print, digital and social media)
- Research administration and grant management
- Collaboration skills (partnering with other researchers, practitioners, policymakers across disciplines and cultures)
- Career development (establishing and achieving a personal strategic career development plan).
Location and Commitment. The program is housed at the Juniper Gardens Children’s Project (JGCP), a community-based urban research facility affiliated with the Institute for Life Span Studies at the University of Kansas and the Children’s Campus of Kansas City. Six researchers and faculty at the JGCP and the KU Center for Research Methods and Data Analysis, who are collaboratively engaged in early childhood MTSS research, will provide mentoring and support for the Postdoctoral Researcher.
This position requires a two-year commitment and location within the Kansas City-Lawrence, KS area. Granting agency requires that candidates for this position be either U.S. citizens or permanent U.S. residents. Please note that all offers of employment are contingent upon the satisfactory completion of a background check. Continuation after one year also is dependent on yearly funding and satisfactory annual evaluations. The position is based at JGCP, located at the Children’s Campus of Kansas City in Kansas City, KS (http://www.jgcp.ku.edu).
RESPONSIBILITIES:
The Researcher will work with faculty mentors as follows:
- 40% - Affiliate with a Research Faculty Mentor and her/his research program to collaborate with this research team in the conduct of applied research with young children at risk/with delays and from diverse groups. Participation will include attending weekly meetings and conducting a complementary intervention study.
- 20% - Complete IES grant preparation including literature reviews, pilot studies, and grant applications in order to learn how to write and submit a competitive application.
- 10% - Produce and submit professional research documents and communications disseminating findings to the larger community of early intervention, early childhood special education, early education, peer-reviewed journals, and national conferences of professional organizations.
- 10% - Use MTSS relevant measurement tools (i.e., progress and mastery monitoring) to identify, design, and evaluate the impacts of differentiated learning experiences for children at 3 tiers of risk.
- 18% - Attend/monitor agreed upon courses and seminars to increase content and methodological knowledge that is the foci of the project.
- 2% - Develop, maintain, and evaluate an annual Individual Fellow Plan (IFP) based on the Postdoctoral Applicant’s strengths, weaknesses, and interests to organize and evaluate one’s individual progress in the program.
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:
- PhD in a discipline related to children’s learning, education, and development such as language/communication disorders, early intervention or early childhood special education, early education, applied behavior analysis, or the psychology disciplines (e.g., quantitative, child, developmental, educational, school psychology, etc.).
- One year minimum experience conducting research studies
- Excellent writing skills as evidenced by quality of application materials, peer-reviewed publications, dissertation, or writing sample.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:
- Experience with children with/at risk for developmental delay, language delays, social-emotional problems, and/or delays in early literacy
- Experience with statistics and quantitative methods (e.g., growth modeling, Mplus or R)
- Research experiences with the implementation of a) single subject experimental design studies, or b) randomized control trials developing/evaluating intervention techniques for young children
- Interests in the uses of traditional and digital information/communication technologies in research
- Publication in peer-reviewed journals.
- Strong oral communication skills as evidenced by work and/or education experience.
FTE: 100%
SALARY: $60,000 annually plus health benefits.
HOW TO APPLY: For more information and to apply online, go to https://employment.ku.edu/staff/12346BR.
Additionally, a cover letter, vitae, professional writing sample (e.g., publication, dissertation) and contact information for three professional references who can speak to your experiences and qualifications are required.
In the cover letter, please indicate how you see this particular training experience helping advance your professional skills and goals in early intervention and early care and education. In your letter, please include paragraphs describing what you would like to accomplish in each of the following domains: (1) in early childhood content, and (2) methodological content.
DEADLINE: The review of applications will begin July 23, 2018 and continue until position(s) is filled.
For questions about the position, please contact Dr. Carta at carta@ku.edu For questions about the application process, please contact Diana Skill at 913 735 2612, dskill@ku.edu
*Funding source mandates that applicants must be U.S. citizen or permanent resident.
The University of Kansas is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. The University encourages applications from underrepresented group members. Federal and state legislation prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, age, disability, and veteran status. In addition, University policies prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, marital status, and parental status. EO/AA