Canada Summer Jobs: Education Policy Researcher (System Navigation)

at  FCSSFESC

Company Description
Empower students to make their schools and communities safer, more equitable, and inclusive.
The Federation of Canadian Secondary Students / Fédération des élèves du secondaire au Canada (FCSS-FESC) is an entirely non-partisan youth-led charity that aims to inform, educate, and ultimately empower high school students to foster social justice initiatives in their schools and local communities.
We use a mutual aid model where students are at the centre of our programs and initiatives. We encourage students to challenge systems of power that perpetuate social disadvantage and actively ground our work in an anti-oppressive and intersectional framework.
Job Description
As an Education Policy Researcher for System Navigation, you will play a critical role in enhancing the accessibility and effectiveness of educational support systems for Canadian high school students and their families. This role does not involve direct referral work or system navigation. Instead, you will conduct in-depth research on provincial and municipal education policies across various Canadian provinces and territories. Your research will support the development of a comprehensive guide designed to assist educational professionals and system navigators in addressing key student and family needs within the education system.

EQUITY STATEMENT

At the FCSS-FESC, we are committed to building and fostering an environment where our Members, volunteers, and staff feel included, valued, and heard. Our belief is that a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion enables us to make our student advocacy work and services better for everyone. We strongly encourage applications from Indigenous Peoples, Black and other racialized people, people with disabilities, people from gender and sexually diverse communities, linguistic minorities in their respective province/territory, and/or people with intersectional identities. Where a job posting states a required number of years of previous experience or a degree requirement, members of equity-seeking groups may use a combination of formal education, informal education, work experience, volunteer experience, and lived experience to meet these requirements

• Conduct thorough research on education policies related to system navigation issues such as individualized education programs (IEPs), school boundary adjustments, discrimination, harassment, grade appeals, and student club/team applications.
• Analyze and document the procedures and channels available for escalating issues within schools and school boards.
• Develop detailed process documents for the top identified issues, outlining step-by-step guidance for navigating these challenges.
• Create templates and checklists to streamline the system navigation process for educational professionals.
• Compile findings into a comprehensive guide that will serve as a resource for system navigators and related stakeholders.
• Collaborate with a team of researchers and educational experts to ensure the accuracy and relevance of the information provided.
• Plan and facilitate ad hoc consultation sessions with FCSS-FESC alumni, interested students, school boards, and other education stakeholders as needed to inform the direction and development of the work product.