Ascension LLC is seeking a Research Analyst / Qualitative Analyst to support a Department of Education evaluation of the next cycle of Regional Educational Laboratories and Comprehensive Centers. This role will help assess how RELs and Comprehensive Centers operated in prior cycles, how they supported state needs, and how future program models may improve collaboration, access to services, service alignment, and stakeholder satisfaction. The Department’s draft SOO emphasizes a single evaluation of both programs, more frequent data collection, regular actionable findings, technical reports, derivative products, and support for continuous program improvement.

This position is ideal for a mid-level qualitative research professional who can conduct structured document reviews, support interviews and focus groups, code and synthesize qualitative data, identify themes across multiple sources, and translate findings into clear contributions for technical reports, appendices, and stakeholder-facing products.

Summary of the Contractor Role

The Research Analyst / Qualitative Analyst will support Tasks 2, 3, and 4 of the evaluation effort, including prior-cycle assessment, interview and focus group analysis, survey and formative analysis support, and findings development. The analyst will work under the direction of the Evaluation Lead and Senior Statistician / Quantitative Evaluation Analyst to ensure qualitative findings are methodologically sound, well documented, and aligned to the evaluation’s research questions.

The ideal candidate is detail-oriented, organized, and comfortable working in a structured research environment where documentation quality, confidentiality, analytic rigor, and responsiveness matter. The candidate should be able to review large volumes of program documentation, extract relevant evidence, apply coding frameworks, support qualitative data collection, and develop concise summaries that connect stakeholder feedback to evaluation questions. Because the evaluation may include primary data collection, extant data review, annual reporting, technical reports, derivative products, and OMB clearance materials, this role requires strong writing, synthesis, and research operations skills.

The analyst should be comfortable using tools and processes such as interview protocols, focus group guides, codebooks, document review matrices, qualitative analysis software, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, survey platforms, and secure data handling procedures. Staff who access non-public IES data may be required to obtain and maintain necessary security clearances and use IES’s secure server environment.

Anticipated Day-to-Day Activities

• Review prior-cycle REL and Comprehensive Center documents, reports, performance materials, service plans, stakeholder feedback, and related evaluation artifacts.
• Extract relevant evidence from program documents and organize findings in structured document review matrices.
• Support interview and focus group planning by reviewing protocols, preparing background materials, and coordinating with the evaluation team.
• Conduct or support semi-structured interviews, focus groups, listening sessions, and stakeholder discussions, as appropriate.
• Code interview notes, transcripts, open-ended survey responses, and document excerpts using approved qualitative coding frameworks.
• Identify recurring themes, patterns, barriers, facilitators, and evidence-use findings across stakeholder groups and program sources.
• Compare qualitative findings across RELs, Comprehensive Centers, client types, states, service models, and time periods.
• Synthesize qualitative evidence into concise analytic memos, findings tables, briefing inputs, and technical appendix content.
• Crosswalk qualitative findings to evaluation research questions, including collaboration, service access, streamlined planning, alignment with state priorities, and perceived outcomes.
• Support formative analysis by helping identify emerging issues that may inform timely program improvement.
• Contribute to technical reports, derivative products, and stakeholder-facing materials by translating qualitative findings into clear, accurate narrative content.
• Document analytic decisions, coding notes, source references, and assumptions to support quality assurance and reproducibility.
• Coordinate with quantitative analysts to integrate qualitative findings with survey, performance, administrative, or extant data.
• Maintain confidentiality of non-public information and follow all project data management, records management, and secure server procedures.
• Participate in recurring team meetings, bi-weekly COR meeting preparation, internal analytic reviews, and milestone briefings as needed.