Principal Data Scientist – National Standardised Assessments For Scotland

The National Improvement Framework brings together evidence and data on Scottish education to be used to drive improvement activity at all levels of the system. Within this, the National Standardised Assessments provide consistent data for schools and local authorities to use to tailor teaching and learning – they are developed and provided by assessment providers working under contract to the Scottish Government.
Available since 2017, the National Standardised Assessments for Scotland (NSA) are aligned to Curriculum for Excellence (CfE); are inclusive and accessible; and provide data at a diagnostic level. NSAs are undertaken in P1, P4, P7 and S3. In providing nationally consistent, objective and comparable information, the NSAs provide a helpful additional source of information for teachers when considering children’s progress and planning next steps in learning.
Phase two of NSA delivery, which began in 2022, introduced a combined assessment platform, comprising both the English-medium SNSA assessments and their Gaelic-medium equivalent, the MCNG.
As the Principal Data Scientist you will work closely with the phase two Service Provider to ensure continuous improvement relating to data management, data analysis and reporting within the phase two platform. You will also lead on enhancing data management and the statistical validity of the platform moving forward into phase 3, the planning for which has recently commenced. Your work will influence the content development strategy, to ensure that new question content development is targeted to fill gaps and enhance the accuracy of assessment outcomes.
As the Principal Data Scientist you will also assure the technical development, implementation and delivery of the assessment system by the phase 2 and 3 provider(s), assisting a successful transition/migration to the new system alongside the technical product owner, project manager and service manager. This is a technical role requiring the incumbent to develop a solid understanding of the existing assessment system, particularly the adaptive assessment algorithm, and the requirements for the replacement system, and the ability to work well with both technical and education stakeholders.
Main Duties
•Act as SG data management lead to assure the technical development, implementation and ongoing delivery of the National Standardised Assessment platform, ensuring the full solution delivers the desired business outcomes throughout the lifetime of the contract and across any supplier transition.
•Translate technical concepts relating to data management and integrity, related data flows and storage, the adaptive assessment algorithm, and statistical design for a non-technical audience, to ensure governance colleagues are sufficiently informed and cognisant of key progress, vulnerabilities, risks and issues.
•Lead on ensuring the statistical validity of the assessments moving forward and enhancing the value of output data to schools and local authorities by reflecting on user feedback and wider evidence.
•Ensure adherence of the NSA platform to the Digital Scotland Service Standard requirements throughout implementation and ongoing enhancement.
•Lead on data governance and legislative obligations, in negotiation with Local Authority partners, supported by Scottish Government legal and data protection expertise.
•Analyse user behaviour on the assessment platform to derive intelligence on patterns of use and to act as a driver for continuous improvement.
•Provide and enable analysis of assessment outcomes, within policy constraints, to support identification of trends within data at national level and to inform the content development process.