Research Associate - Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education

Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education (CAPE) improves student learning through partnering with schools to integrate the arts into curriculum.  It achieves this by advancing innovative arts integration practice and policy with the fields of education and the arts (primarily in Chicago public schools) and by actively participating in professional dialogue with practitioners, researchers, and leaders in the field.  Since it’s founding in 1993, CAPE has become recognized as a leader in the field of school improvement through the arts.  

Beginning with the organization’s founding in 1992, CAPE has continually collected data and engaged researchers and evaluators to study the organization’s programs.   Over the past few years, CAPE has initiated research strategies co-designed by our participating teachers, artists, and leading researchers in the field.  The goals of the research are three-fold: to bring criticality to art education practice; to broaden and deepen CAPE’s programming; and to effectively share this methodology and findings to others – especially to our teachers, artists and students.  

CAPE’s research is a deep exploration into the process of arts integration. By becoming reflective practitioners, teachers, artists, and students will define the theory behind the practice—why do arts integration and authentic arts partnerships actually succeed in terms of academic learning, school climate/improvement, and aesthetic achievement. Critical to the reflective practice of CAPE teachers, artists, and students is on-going process documentation, dialogue across partnerships, and interaction with leaders in the field.

CAPE seeks a part-time Research Associate to help implement research projects in two key CAPE program areas: SCALE (Supporting Communities through Arts Learning Environments), our after-school program working with six schools; and our new program, the Portfolio Project. The Research Associate will work directly with CAPE’s university-based Primary Investigators (head researchers), along with CAPE administrative staff, in creating and leading research plans for these CAPE programs.  The Research Associate is the lead person in implementing those plans, and seeing them through to successful completion.  In order to accomplish this, certain areas of responsibility have been established.

The Research Associate’s primary areas of responsibility are:

Research tool implementation:  The Research Associate is responsible for administering tools developed for specific projects and programs.  These tools may include surveys, exit slips, interview protocols, etc.  The Research Associate distributes the research instruments, and collects, stores and organizes the data.

Site visits, consulting and documentation:  The Research Associate is responsible for making regular site visits to schools across the city of Chicago involved in CAPE research.  During site visits, the Research Associate initiates any needed documentation.  The Research associate also consults on site, answering teachers’ research questions and making suggestions as to their documentation strategies and needs.

Research organization: The Research Associate is responsible for maintaining a high degree of organization of all research data, and submitting that data on time and in a clear manner (the context of the data clearly indicated) to the appropriate parties.  The Research Associate will maintain appropriate digital and paper filing systems, easily accessible to CAPE staff.

Research dialogues: The Research Associate will be responsible for either conducting or setting up research interviews with teachers, students, artists, parents, and/or administrators.  These interviews may be one-on-one, or conducted with groups.  The Research Associate will be responsible for ensuring interviews and dialogues are recorded, and that this data is gathered and stored.

Research development: The Research Associate will contribute to the development of research plans as needed, and to the development of research tools as needed.

Reporting and sharing: The Research Associate will report research findings on a regular basis to CAPE staff, and periodically to the CAPE Board.  The Research Associate will also communicate research to participating teachers and artists, and assist these teachers and artists in their own efforts to publicly share their knowledge.  This public sharing will include CAPE’s digital research and documentation system.  

Research liaison:  The Research Associate serves as the “on-the-ground” liaison for the Principal Investigators to all parties relevant to CAPE programs.  S/he will be responsible for regularly communicating with the PIs to clarify tasks and responsibilities.

The Research Associate will perform the above duties primarily in connection with the following CAPE programs:

The Supporting Communities with Arts Learning Environments (SCALE) Project: This project works with six schools (Telpochcalli, Waters, Williams, Kinzie, and Marconi Elementary Schools and El Cuatro Ano High School) in after-school, arts integrated instruction.  The goal of the SCALE project is to develop after-school programming as a laboratory for the most innovative arts integration curriculum, and to research and assess how these innovative after-school experimentations can impact in-school learning. This project is funded by the Illinois State Board of Education.  

The Portfolio Project: This new, U.S. D.O.E.-funded program will engage on-staff Chicago Public Schools’ visual art and music teachers with corresponding visual art or music teaching artists. Together, they co-plan and co-teach innovate arts curriculum, also integrating with classroom teachers at their schools, and develop deep, reflective student portfolios that illuminate teaching and learning and stimulate further artistic production throughout the life of the project.

Reports to:        Education Director
Salary Range:    Commensurate with experience
Schedule:          Part-time position (approximately 20 hours per week)