A new category of seasonal work will join the usual crush of retail holiday hiring in metro Denver this year – grading tests.
Staffing firm Kelly Services is looking for more than 700 temporary workers to grade standardized achievement tests from school districts across the country on behalf of Measured Progress, a not-for-profit New Hampshire testing company.
The jobs, which pay $11 an hour and last from Nov. 7 to mid-December, involve grading reading, writing and math assessments from several states, not including Colorado. Another round of tests to grade is expected in the spring.
Applicants don’t need experience in grading tests, but they need an associate’s or bachelor’s degree.
Measured Progress was “looking for a community that had a highly educated population,” said Pat Pierson, district manager for Kelly Services in Denver.
The metro area ranks fourth nationally for the percentage of its population age 25 and older holding a college degree, according to the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey.
Aurora, in particular, was chosen to host the jobs because the city had a large block of space available at First Avenue and Havana Street, Pierson said.
One shift of 500 workers is needed on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. A second shift of 200 is needed from 5:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.
The hope is that teachers needing extra income for the holidays will fill that second shift, Pierson said, adding that Kelly is sensitive about draining the pool of substitute teachers.
“Even if education may not have been a focus, we are willing to train them and apply the skills they have,” said Kasia Szew czyk, a Kelly spokeswoman.
Measured Progress has seen business increase since the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The jobs it’s filling involve pressure to meet strict deadlines for grading the assessments, which are closely followed by parents, students and educators.
The firm had to delay the release of 500,000 assessment results in Massachusetts last month after a worker incorrectly scan- ned 400 seventh-grade exams.
Kelly will host a series of job fairs at the Arapahoe/Douglas Works Workforce Center at 14980 E. Alameda Ave. in the CentrePoint Plaza.
One fair runs today from noon to 6 p.m., with others Wednesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Staff writer Aldo Svaldi can be reached at 303-820-1410 or asvaldi@denverpost.com.
