Project Based Freelance Contributor - Assessment Item Specialist, Social Studies (Remote, US)

About this role

Why You'll Love This Role:

As an Assessment Item Specialist for Social Studies, you will play a key role in expanding the Newsela Item Bank, ensuring students have access to high-quality, inquiry-based assessments. You will leverage your Social Studies expertise to create rigorous, standards-aligned content and evaluate primary and secondary sources that help educators deliver data-informed instruction. This role offers a collaborative, remote environment where your commitment to historical thinking and evidence-based 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 Social Studies assessment items, tasks, and stimuli that are precisely mapped to state-specific standards and the C3 Framework.

• Select and curate high-quality primary and secondary sources, including maps, charts, and historical documents, that meet specific grade-level complexity and inquiry requirements.

• Transfer and format existing Social Studies 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 Social Studies 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 Social Studies 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.

• You are a standards and framework specialist with deep familiarity with state-specific social studies standards and the C3 Framework, along with a proven ability to apply strict standards alignment principles.

• You demonstrate a mastery of rigor and Depth of Knowledge (DOK), allowing you to accurately classify and create items that meet specific cognitive rigor requirements, particularly in evaluating historical evidence and civic reasoning.

• You are skilled in technical item production, bringing prior experience authoring technology-enhanced items (TEIs) and comfortably navigating digital assessment platforms.