Project Based Freelance Contributor - Assessment Item Specialist, English Language Arts (Remote, US)

Why You'll Love This Role

As an Assessment Item Specialist for English Language Arts, you will play a key role in expanding the Newsela Item Bank, ensuring students have access to high-quality, literacy-driven assessments. You will leverage your ELA expertise to create rigorous, standards-aligned content that helps educators deliver data-informed instruction. This role offers a collaborative, remote environment where your commitment to quality and textual analysis directly supports academic success in classrooms nationwide. You will enjoy the flexibility of a freelance contract while contributing to a platform that is a staple in K-12 digital learning.

What You'll Be Doing

• Create original, standards-aligned English Language Arts (ELA) assessment items, tasks, and stimuli that are precisely mapped to CCSS or state-specific literacy standards.
• Select and curate high-quality reading passages (literary and informational) that meet specific Lexile requirements and grade-level complexity.
• Transfer and format existing ELA assessments and items from district and state sources directly into the Formative platform.
• Produce and configure technology-enhanced items (TEIs) within the platform, ensuring accurate metadata tagging and flawless technical functionality.
• Conduct systematic quality assurance reviews of ELA content to ensure all items are unbiased, culturally responsive, and meet strict editorial standards.
• Validate content alignment and cognitive rigor by accurately evaluating the Depth of Knowledge (DOK) for every assessment item.
• Provide expert platform feedback and recommendations regarding content tools and item bank features to continuously improve development workflows.

About You

• You are a professional assessment author with at least one year of direct experience writing and reviewing English Language Arts (ELA) assessment items on a commercial scale, such as for a reputable EdTech company, testing vendor, or educational publisher.
• You are an assessment methodology expert who possesses a comprehensive understanding of educational assessment design, including formative, common, and summative assessments.