Department of State
Foreign Service Institute
School of Language Studies
Institutional Analysis Specialist (Evaluation Specialist II/III)

Background

The Foreign Service Institute (FSI) is the Federal Government's premier training institution for the U.S. Government?s (USG) foreign affairs community, preparing American diplomats and other professionals to advance U.S. foreign policy interests overseas and in Washington. FSI designs and provides more than 600 unique and innovative courses to more than 100,000 enrollees a year from the Department of State and more than 40 other USG agencies and the military service branches.

The School of Language Studies (SLS) is responsible for providing language and culture training to personnel of the Department of State and other USG agencies and offices who are assigned to positions, overseas or stateside, for which language and cultural skills are designated a necessity. SLS also provides appropriate training to personnel assigned to non-designated positions and to eligible family members of USG employees. SLS provides training in more than 65 languages to over 2,000 enrollees on an average annual basis.

In support of these efforts, the SLS Evaluation and Measurement Unit coordinates program evaluation and performance measurement activities to inform decision making and enhance language instruction. EMU does so by (a) collecting and analyzing information on institutional performance to understand how well SLS is fulfilling its mission; (b) evaluating specific SLS programs to help divisions, units, and sections improve and develop their effectiveness; and (c) helping SLS staff conduct evaluation for themselves by providing advice, resources, and training. In this way, EMU helps SLS staff better understand, improve, and develop the quality of SLS language training and support.

Purpose:

The purpose of this task order is to engage a highly experienced education professional who possesses the technical expertise and experience necessary to serve as a program evaluation and assessment specialist for SLS?s long-term program improvement and development efforts.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Develop core performance measurement metrics, benchmarks, and progress indicators to measure effectiveness and efficiency of SLS programs;

• Develop and implement data collection policies, systems and procedures to track program inputs, outputs and outcomes;

• Design and conduct quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis using large databases to determine impact of various factors on training outcomes;

• Generate relevant findings, conclusions, and recommendations to improve and develop SLS programs, projects, and processes;

• Propose, design and conduct training (e.g., workshops) on relevant topics, such as: program evaluation, assessment, data-collection/analysis, reporting, and data visualization;

• Interpret data and communicate technical information (e.g., results, recommendations) to non-technical and senior-level audiences.