Learning & Efficacy Manager

Zaner-Bloser (ZB), a Highlights for Children company, is a PreK–6 foundational skills educational publisher with a mission to help children become their best selves through literacy solutions that target foundational skills development and foster joyful, successful learning. Our research- and skills-based literacy and math curricula—including Superkids, Spelling Connections, ZB Handwriting, and Kickstart Math Intervention—help teachers support, empower, and inspire students across the country.

At ZB, we believe foundational skills provide the groundwork for thriving, successful students. Our programs help educators build community and confidence in any context—creating the conditions for “aha” moments of discovery and understanding to thrive. Students develop reading, writing, and math skills they can apply across disciplines and in many contexts, becoming fluent, motivated learners. Learning science isn’t a tag line at ZB;

it’s the foundation of everything we build.

The Learning Science and Efficacy Manager is ZB’s embedded research translator—connecting the learning science literature to the day-to-day decisions made by our curriculum and product teams. Reporting to the Senior Manager, Learning Design and working in close partnership with the VP, Curriculum and Learning Design, this role ensures that every ZB program is built on a defensible, current, and clearly communicated research base.

This is a practitioner-level role suited to someone who loves digging into research and loves even more the moment when that research clicks for a curriculum developer, a sales rep, or a district administrator. The Learning Science and Efficacy Manager will focus primarily on two areas: (1) translating and communicating the research base to internal product and curriculum teams, and (2) Supporting the planning, coordination, and documentation of efficacy studies in partnership with Learning Design leadership and external research partners.

• Monitor and synthesize current research in cognitive science, literacy acquisition, mathematics intervention, and the Science of Reading—maintaining an accessible, organized library of research that product and curriculum teams can draw from.
• Translate findings from peer-reviewed research into clear, practical guidance for Learning Design, Editorial, and Digital team members who are building curriculum—not reading journals.
• Develop and maintain research summaries, logic models, and annotated research bases for each ZB program, keeping them current as the literature evolves.
• Establish and maintain consistent communication processes for sharing new research and transferring knowledge to internal teams, in collaboration with the Senior Manager, Learning Design.
• Review curriculum and product materials from a learning science perspective, flagging misalignments with current evidence and recommending research-grounded alternatives.
• Contribute a learning science lens to curriculum design work structured within ZB’s UbD (Understanding by Design) framework.
• In partnership with the Senior Manager, Learning Design and VP, Curriculum and Learning Design, coordinate and support efficacy studies that contribute to credible, ESSA-aligned evidence for ZB programs.
• Coordinate with external research partners—including universities, independent evaluators, and consultants—to support rigorous, well-documented study execution.
• Develop and maintain efficacy documentation for programs including Superkids, Spelling Connections, ZB Handwriting, and Kickstart, ensuring claims are accurate, current, and appropriately tiered per ESSA standards.
• Track ESSA evidence requirements and state-level evidence expectations to ensure ZB products maintain competitive, compliant positioning.
• Organize and maintain research and efficacy collateral, documentation, and archives; manage project timelines to meet multiple deadlines.
• Author or contribute learning science and efficacy sections of RFP responses, alignment guides, and competitive proposals—translating research claims into language that resonates with district procurement audiences.
• D…