Director of Qualitative Strategy

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Department UEI To&Through Initiative About the Department As one of the first schools of social work in the United States, the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice has shaped the field for more than 100 years. As part of the University of Chicago, the Crown Family School shares the University's core values and distinctive intellectual culture. Crown Family School faculty, staff, and students focus on identifying solutions to complex social problems through research, training, and direct community engagement. Guided by an interdisciplinary tradition, Crown Family School scholars conduct innovative research to address interconnected social challenges such as educational inequality, health disparities, crime and violence, poverty, and child and family welfare-working at multiple scales, from individual to policy-level interventions. More than 10,000 Crown Family School graduates in the US and globally hold leadership positions in academia, at nonprofits, in business, and at governmental agencies. The Crown Family School is the home of three academic centers. These include the Susan and Richard Kiphart Center for Global Health and Social Development, the Kersten Institute for Urban Education, and the Center for Climate, Health, and Society (CHAS). More information may be found at https://crownschool.uchicago.edu/. The To&Through Project is one of five units at the Kersten Institute for Urban Education that collectively work toward a shared mission of improving educational outcomes & promoting equity in schools & communities. At the To&Through Project, we believe that schools should be places where all students have access to equitable learning experiences and pathways from the middle grades through college graduation. We strive to create equitable education outcomes for Chicago Public Schools students by helping educators use data for inquiry and impact: Data: We analyze and share quantitative and qualitative data on the educational journeys of Chicago Public Schools students Inquiry: We work alongside education stakeholders from across the system to make meaning of data in ways that support and shift practice Impact: We help realize equitable learning experiences, pathways, and outcomes for CPS students from the middle grades through college graduation The To&Through team is a small, close-knit group of analysts and practitioners who are deeply committed to make schools in Chicago more equitable for marginalized students. We strive to create a highly personable, collaborative, and reflective culture that encourages people to bring their whole selves to work. We try to live out our values (care for each other, practice anti-racism, have integrity, be creative and curious, and respect all forms of expertise) not only in the work we produce, but also in the rituals and routines that hold our team together: monthly equity team meetings, feedback sessions, book groups, retreats, coffee chats, and regular supervisor/supervisee feedback. For more information visit: https://toandthrough.uchicago.edu/ Job Summary Reporting to the Executive Director of the To&Through Project, the Director of Qualitative Strategy provides vision, leadership, and strategic direction for all qualitative and storytelling-based work within the To&Through Project. This role is responsible for elevating the role of qualitative data-student stories, educator narratives, family experiences, and community voices-as a core pillar of To&Through's approach to research, professional learning, and systems change. The Director of Qualitative Strategy will lead the big-picture, strategic thinking of our qualitative data and storytelling work. They will be charged with the conceptualization, design, and execution of practitioner-rooted stories (currently Learning Cases) and our qualitative partnerships with community-based storytelling efforts. They will support the Qualitative Data Strategist in the strategy and implementation of Student Stories and Family Stories. They will also continue to evolve our qualitative strategies and projects and innovate around new practice-rooted qualitative research that complements and contextualizes our quantitative data and research. The Director of Qualitative Strategy will support the dissemination of our qualitative work in partnership with the Director of Learning & Engagement and contribute to advancing the field of qualitative data and storytelling. The Director will also seek to advance our belief that qualitative data, not only the quantitative, must drive reflection and action in our education ecosystem. This role sits at the intersection of strategy, research, storytelling, and people management. The Director will both set long-term vision and remain deeply engaged in the qualitative work itself-conducting research, guiding the direction of qualitative data, facilitating practitioner learning, and modeling rigorous, ethical qualitative inquiry. The Director of Qualitative Strategy