23.1062, Jobs: Applied Linguistics; Language Testing: Test Developer, Pearson

Fri Mar 2 17:13:33 UTC 2012

LINGUIST List: Vol-23-1062. Fri Mar 02 2012. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 23.1062, Jobs: Applied Linguistics; Language Testing: Test Developer, Pearson

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Date: Fri, 02 Mar 2012 12:12:47
From: Rhonda Warren [rhonda.warren at pearson.com]
Subject: Applied Linguistics; Language Testing; Educational Measurement: Test Developer, Pearson, CA, USA

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University or Organization: Pearson 
Job Location: California, USA 
Web Address: http://pearsoned.com
Job Rank: Test Developer  

Specialty Areas: Applied Linguistics; Language Testing; Educational Measurement

Description:

Pearson has one defining goal: to help people progress in their lives 
through learning. We champion innovation and we invest in models for 
education that deliver on our promise for effective, accessible, and 
personal learning from early literacy, college and career readiness to 
professional education, through data informed instruction and inventive 
applications for mobile and digital learning.

Pearson, the world's leading learning company, has global-reach and 
market leading businesses in education, business, and consumer 
publishing and is listed on the London and New York stock exchanges 
(UK: PSON; NYSE: PSO). For more information, visit 
http://www.pearson.com.

Pearson is an Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer, and a 
member of E-Verify. All qualified applicants, including minorities, women, 
veterans, and people with disabilities are encouraged to apply.

Pearson's Knowledge Technologies (KT) group provides products and 
services based on proprietary and patented machine-learning technology 
for language understanding.

Summary:
The Test Development group is responsible for designing reliable and 
valid language tests based on theories of linguistics and psychology, and 
informed by an understanding of automatic speech recognition. Test 
Developers are required to manage the development of new assessment 
products at various stages of their construction, from designing tasks and 
item specifications through to data collection, validation, documentation 
and deployment.

Duties and Responsibilities:
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform the 
following essential functions:
-  Designing test tasks and writing test specifications
-  Creating test items
-  Coaching voice talent
-  Recruiting participants for data collection
-  Analyzing data and writing technical reports
-  Screening, training and managing groups of external consultants (item 
writers, reviewers, transcribers, raters) 
-  Participating in technical customer support
-  Assisting customers with cut-score decisions based on their individual 
requirements
-  Giving academic or technical presentations at meetings and 
conferences
-  Designing, carrying out and writing up validation experiments
-  Conducting original research for publication in the field of test 
development and validation

Test developers are responsible for the success of the projects they 
manage, and as such are expected to: run projects according to schedule 
and within budget; anticipate and correct problems or shortcomings; 
interact with our Engineering and Research & Development departments; 
manage large teams of external consultants (typically between 10 and 50 
consultants per project).

Qualifications:

Education:
-  An MA or PhD in language testing, educational measurement, applied 
linguistics, or related field

Preference given to candidates with the following experience:
-  Excellent verbal and written communication skills
-  The ability to manage projects independently and work well with others 
at least two years of relevant work experience in linguistics, education, or 
assessment
-  A proven track record of research or publications

Additionally, the following qualifications are desirable:
-  Knowledge of programming such as SQL or Perl 
-  Knowledge of statistics or psychometrics (e.g. Rasch, IRT)
-  Fluency in more than one language

Application Deadline: 01-Apr-2012 

Web Address for Applications: http://jobs.pearson.com/job/Palo-Alto-Test-Developer-Job-CA-94301/1748664/ 
Contact Information:
	Sr. HR Coordinator Rhonda Warren 
	Email: rhonda.warren at pearson.com 
	Phone: 210-339-5025 
	Fax: 210-339-5046 

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