Postdoctoral Position with Dr. Sara Hart in Developmental Psychology at the University of Waterloo
Dr. Sara Hart, Canadian Excellence Research Chair in Developmental Science and Professor at the University of Waterloo Department of Psychology is inviting applications for two post-doctoral fellows.
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The postdoctoral researchers hired into this position will have the opportunity to work on collaborative research projects funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The projects both include secondary data analysis, and advanced statistical modeling, on data representing reading and language development, classification of learning related disabilities, and reading intervention efficacy studies. One aspect of these positions will be managing, cleaning, and harmonizing large existing datasets to prepare them for deposit in a domain specific data repository (LDbase). The candidates will be trained in statistical analyses and will be responsible for writing scientific manuscripts. Research opportunities will include data analysis, writing manuscripts related to the research topic and/or metascientific concepts (e.g., data management, data sharing), and travel to present research finding at conferences. 

The ideal candidate will be creative and collegial with the ability to work in a team environment and have strong communication skills. We are seeking someone with a background in children’s reading and language development (familiarity with common measures of reading and language), advanced knowledge of statistics, strong scientific writing skills, and experience with data sharing or open science concepts. An ideal candidate would have experience with structural equation models or other advanced statistical techniques. This candidate should be highly motivated to learn new data analytic methods, to apply them to new contexts, to publish first-author papers, and present at conferences. The successful candidate will be based at the University of Waterloo, but will be part of interdisciplinary teams with colleagues across the USA.

The successful candidate will have a Ph.D. in a field of developmental psychology, education, special education, quantitative methods or other related field, experience in the fields of reading and language development, quantitative methods, or metascience, and experience with statistical software (e.g., R, SAS, Mplus). For more information on postdoctoral studies and on the University of Waterloo, see https://uwaterloo.ca/graduate-studies-postdoctoral-affairs/.

Both positions will be a one-year position, and one position will have the possibility of renewal for a second year. Review of applications will begin on March 15th, 2024 and will continue until the position is filled. Preferred start date will be June to August, 2024. To apply, please send your CV and a short interest letter (less than one page) to Sara Hart ([email protected]). Additional materials will be requested from final candidates. 

The University of Waterloo acknowledges that much of our work takes place on the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishinaabeg and Haudenosaunee peoples. Our main campus is situated on the Haldimand Tract, the land granted to the Six Nations that includes six miles on each side of the Grand River. Our active work toward reconciliation takes place across our campuses through research, learning, teaching, and community building, and is co-ordinated within our Office of Indigenous Relations.

The University values the diverse and intersectional identities of its students, faculty, and staff. The University regards equity and diversity as an integral part of academic excellence and is committed to accessibility for all employees. The University of Waterloo seeks applicants who embrace our values of equity, anti-racism and inclusion. As such, we encourage applications from candidates who have been historically disadvantaged and marginalized, including applicants who identify as First Nations, Métis and/or Inuk (Inuit), Black, racialized, a person with a disability, women and/or 2SLGBTQ+.

All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.
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The University of Waterloo is committed to accessibility for persons with disabilities. If you have any application, interview, or workplace accommodation requests, please contact Sam Johnson ([email protected])

Drs. Sara Hart and Callie Little at the Department of Psychology and the Florida Center for Reading Research at Florida State University are seeking a post-doctoral research associate to work on a new NIH-funded project dedicated to investigating the mechanisms through which COVID-19 has impacted children’s reading skills.
The postdoc position is an opportunity to work with the geographically diverse, national NatPAT twin project to engage in advanced causally sensitive risk-resilience modeling, including genetically sensitive analyses and longitudinal mediation models. This job will also provide the opportunity to develop skills in geospatial analyses using geographic information systems (GIS) software. So, if you are keen to gain a lot of experience in quasi-experimental methodology, integrating multiple data sources, and of course, publishing manuscripts – then come work with us!

Candidates with a Ph.D. in developmental psychology, education sciences, economics, or related field will be an excellent fit. A background in quantitative genetics and/or longitudinal modeling is preferred. Experience with GIS is preferential, but not required. The position will provide training and experience in GIS modeling as well as advanced statistical methods. Start date is negotiable. Salary is $62,000 and benefits are set by our university. Our lab provides a fun and engaging research environment, and the position also includes funding for travel and training opportunities.  International candidates will be considered and supported. To apply, go to jobs.fsu.edu and look for job ID 51705. 
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Feel free to reach out to Dr. Hart ([email protected], @saraannhart) or Dr. Little ([email protected], @cignae) via email or Twitter if you have any questions. 

Mia Daucourt defended her dissertation and is off doing a postdoc with Dr. Jeffrey Gruen at Yale! We are so happy for her! Congrats Dr. Daucourt! 

Drs. Chris Schatschneider and Sara Hart, at the Department of Psychology and the Florida Center for Reading Research at the Florida State University, are recruiting a postdoctoral researcher to work with them on a NIH-funded project, called “LDbase”.
 
This postdoctoral position on the LDbase project is an opportunity to help create a repository of datasets related to academic achievement available to all researchers. One role on this project is to create a series of pooled datasets through the use of measurement invariance modeling using R and to make this code available to anyone who wants it. Another role is to publish manuscripts from these datasets. Another role will be to help create data management and data analysis resources for the broader academic community (e.g., data entry best practice guide, data analysis workshop slides). So if you’re looking for a job where you’ll get a lot of experience in measurement modeling, publishing manuscripts, as well as supporting educational and developmental science researchers in data sharing – then this job is for you!
 
We are hoping to recruit an individual is comfortable with advanced statistical procedures such as measurement modeling. Experience with data created by educational/learning disabilities researchers is a plus. Start date is tentatively set for August 9, 2021, but we are open to an early start date. Salary is set at the NIH-levels and benefits are set by our university, but we are able to add further support with generous travel and training opportunities, and a collegial and jovial work environment.
 
You can apply for this job by going to www.hr.fsu.edu, clicking on “job opportunities”, and searching for job id “48641”. Applicants will be asked to provide their CV, letter of interest, and names and contact information for three individuals for whom letters of recommendation could be solicited (with names and contact info to be submitted as directed in the Letters of Reference Section). We will be taking applications until the position is filled, so apply quickly! Questions can be emailed or tweeted to Chris ([email protected], @schotz) or Sara ([email protected], @saraannhart).

Lab graduate student is now DR. Rasheda Haughbrook! Rasheda rocked her final (zoom) defense! She will be starting her new job in August, as an Assistant Professor of Teaching in the Department of Psychology at Florida State University! We are so proud of her, and are happy we don't have to say a full good-bye!

​Call for a Special Series in Learning Disability Quarterly on Registered Reports
 
This special series will focus on introducing the learning disability research community to a new way to publish, the registered report. Unlike regular empirical articles, registered reports go through peer review before the study is conducted or results of the research are known.  Authors submit their introduction, methods, analysis plans, and pilot data if applicable, as a “stage-1” manuscript. This manuscript then goes through peer review, with reviewers evaluating and making recommendations for study plans and authors responding. This process continues until the Editor rejects or grants “in-principle acceptance” to the stage-1 manuscript. If the stage-1 manuscript receives an in-principle acceptance, the authors then pre-register their approved study plans and start the study.
 
After completion of the study, the authors write up and submit a “stage-2” manuscript, which is the complete manuscript that adheres to APA formatting and LDQ Author Guidelines. At this stage, reviewers, the journal editor, and the guest editors review the completed manuscript to evaluate whether the pre-approved protocol was followed and conclusions are sound. If the plan was followed and results discussed appropriately, final acceptance is granted.
 
What makes registered reports different from regular publications is that the system of pre-review and pre-approval based on methodological quality:

1. Allows reviewers to provide constructive feedback proactively, before the study is conducted, which can be incorporated by the authors to improve the study.
2. Prevents reviewers and editors from deciding whether a publication merits publication based on (significant or interesting) findings, or forcing post-hoc changes to the analyses.
3. Removes the incentive for authors to engage in questionable research practices to attain statistically significant findings.

 
For this special series, our goal is to show the learning disability community that a range of research methodologies lend themselves to registered reports. Therefore, we are especially interested in publishing manuscripts that reflect a range of methodologies. We welcome submissions that propose using group experimental and quasi-experimental designs, single-case designs, correlational designs, qualitative methods, descriptive methods, individual differences methods, meta-analytical methods, secondary data analysis, replications, and other empirical methodologies appropriate for addressing research questions relevant to students with and at risk for learning disabilities. Proposed research studies must focus on empirically examining research questions with direct relevance for the education and outcomes of students with and/or demonstrably at risk for learning disabilities.
 
More information concerning registered reports, including workflow and checklists for investigators, is available here. As registered reports are likely new for many special education researchers, we welcome questions concerning process or fit (see below for e-mail addresses).
 
Now Accepting Extended Abstracts
We invite interested researchers to submit extended abstracts of planned stage-1 manuscripts. For consideration, please email your extended abstract submission* to Bryan Cook at [email protected]. You will receive a confirmation of receipt. We will invite approximately five stage-1 manuscripts for the special series based on quality of proposed methods and contribution to a methodologically diverse set of studies for the special series.
 
Timeline
Abstracts should be submitted by February 15, 2020, with decisions on abstracts anticipated by March 1, 2020. If invited to contribute to the special series, stage-1 manuscript (consisting of a complete Introduction and prospective Method) will be submitted for peer review by June 1, 2020. It is expected that stage-1 review will be completed on or before October 15, 2020. If granted in-principle acceptance, full stage-2 manuscripts, reporting the completed study, will be submitted for review by August 15, 2021. We anticipate final decisions on stage-2 manuscripts by November 15, 2021.
 
* To allow the guest editors to evaluate and invite selected stage-1 manuscripts for the special series, we ask that interested researchers initially submit an extended abstract that provides the following details. We anticipate that extended abstracts will be one to two pages in length. Note that, depending on the research design, some of these categories may need to be modified. Our intent is for authors to provide us with a meaningful overview of the proposed study.
- Title 
- Study rationale/background
- Research questions (specify relevance for students with and/or at risk for learning disabilities)
- Primary research design/method
- Sample description
- Independent variable
- Measures and key outcomes 
- Data analytic strategy
- Feasibility of recruiting sample and conducting study within the timeframe of the special issue.
 
Feel free to contact us if you have questions:
Bryan Cook: [email protected]
Bill Therrien: [email protected]
Sara Hart: [email protected]
 

 

​http://ldbase.org/