Contract Writing Editor

Purpose

EdReports seeks an experienced Writing Editor to provide approximately 25 hours of substantive and technical editorial support for the Multilingual Learner (MLL) Early Math tools and supporting resources.

The Writing Editor will strengthen the clarity, organization, readability, flow, precision, consistency, and accessibility of these materials while preserving their technical meaning and the integrity of the underlying evidence, criteria, and intended interpretations.

This engagement requires more than proofreading or copyediting. The contractor must exercise editorial judgment about structure, language, audience, consistency, and meaning while recognizing when a proposed revision requires consultation with an EdReports content or subject-matter expert.

Scope and Level of Effort

This engagement is limited to approximately 25 total hours of editorial services. At the start of the engagement, EdReports and the contractor will confirm the materials and editorial priorities to be addressed within the available hours.

The contractor will prioritize work that has the greatest impact on:

• clarity, readability, and organization;
• precision and consistency of language;
• preservation of technical meaning;
• usability and accessibility for intended audiences; and
• overall editorial quality.

If the volume or complexity of the assigned materials exceeds what can reasonably be completed within 25 hours, the contractor will notify the project lead, identify outstanding work, and recommend priorities before proceeding.

Scope of Work

Within the agreed-upon level of effort, the contractor will:

• Review prioritized materials to identify significant issues related to organization, flow, readability, terminology, precision, consistency, and accessibility.
• Substantively and developmentally edit assigned content to improve organization, sequencing, clarity, transitions, directions, explanations, and relationships among concepts, evidence, criteria, and guidance.
• Edit for clarity and precision by reducing ambiguity, unnecessary complexity, repetition, and wordiness while preserving the nuance and intended meaning of the content.
• Preserve technical fidelity by reviewing proposed edits to ensure they do not unintentionally change mathematical concepts, multilingual learner considerations, evidence statements, criteria, scoring guidance, or intended interpretations.
• Identify and document substantive questions requiring review by EdReports content or subject-matter experts rather than independently resolving questions outside the contractor's editorial expertise.
• Strengthen consistency across prioritized materials, including terminology, definitions, directions, examples, language conventions, and related explanations.
• Copyedit and conduct quality control for grammar, syntax, punctuation, spelling, mechanics, usage, and editorial consistency.
• Incorporate one consolidated round of EdReports feedback and conduct a final editorial review of the agreed-upon materials, as time permits within the 25-hour engagement.

Compensation & Contract Period

This contract is expected to require up to 25 hours of work and will be compensated at $100 per hour, for a maximum contract amount of $2,500. The contractor may not exceed 25 hours without prior written approval from EdReports. The contract period is approximately October 2026 through November 2026.

Deliverables

Within the 25-hour engagement, the contractor will provide:

1. Edited Priority Materials
   Substantive, developmental, and copy edits to the materials identified as priorities at the start of the engagement.
2. Editorial Questions and Recommendations
   Clearly documented questions, ambiguities, technical concerns, or substantive issues requiring decisions from EdReports content experts.
3. Editorial Style/Decision Log
   A concise record of recurring terminology, usage, capitalization, formatting, and other editorial decisions identified through the work.
4. Final Revised Materials
   Incorporation of one consolidated round of feedback and a final editorial quality-control review of agreed-upon materials within the available contract hours.

Successful Completion

The engagement will be considered successfully completed when the contractor has:

• completed the agreed-upon priority work within the 25-hour level of effort;
• improved the clarity, organization, precision, readability, and consistency of the materials addressed;
• preserved the technical meaning and intent of the underlying content;
• appropriately identified issues requiring subject-matter expert decisions;
• consistently applied agreed-upon editorial decisions; and
• provided EdReports with edited materials and documentation sufficient to support any remaining or future revisions.

Completion of the engagement is based on the agreed-upon level of effort and prioritized deliverables, rather than completion of an unlimited volume of MLL Early Math materials.

Qualifications

Required:

• Demonstrated professional experience editing complex educational, technical, research-based, instructional, or comparable content.
• Demonstrated experience with both substantive/developmental editing and copyediting.
• Strong technical editing skills, including the ability to improve organization, clarity, readability, and language while preserving accuracy, nuance, and intended meaning.
• Exceptional command of English grammar, syntax, punctuation, usage, mechanics, and editorial conventions.
• Demonstrated ability to identify ambiguity, inconsistencies, terminology conflicts, unsupported wording, and subtle differences in meaning within complex written materials.
• Ability to translate or edit complex ideas into clear, precise, reader-centered language without oversimplifying the content. 
• Experience applying style guides and maintaining consistent editorial conventions across related materials.
• Experience creating or maintaining editorial style sheets, terminology guides, decision logs, or similar tools.
• Ability to distinguish between editorial issues and substantive content questions requiring review by a subject-matter expert.
• Experience collaborating effectively with authors, researchers, curriculum specialists, content experts, or other subject-matter experts.
• Strong attention to detail and ability to independently manage work, communicate questions or risks promptly, incorporate feedback, and meet agreed-upon deadlines.
• Understanding of K–12 education and educator audiences through professional editing, curriculum development, instructional materials, education research, teaching, or comparable experience.
• 5+ years of professional writing and/or editing experience, including demonstrated experience substantively editing complex, technical, research-based, educational, or similarly specialized content.
• Bachelor's degree or an equivalent combination of relevant education, training, and professional experience.

Preferred:

• Professional editing experience with K–12 instructional materials, curriculum, assessments, educator-facing guidance, education research, or instructional-materials reviews.
• Background or demonstrated subject-matter knowledge in mathematics education, particularly early mathematics or elementary mathematics.
• Background or demonstrated subject-matter knowledge in multilingual learner education, English learner education, language development, or linguistically responsive instruction.
• Experience editing materials that integrate education research, evidence statements, rubrics, criteria, indicators, or scoring guidance.
• Experience editing materials intended for multiple education audiences, such as teachers, instructional leaders, district leaders, reviewers, researchers, or curriculum decision-makers.
• Familiarity with plain-language, readability, inclusive-language, and accessibility principles as applied to educational or technical content.
• Experience working within collaborative document-development environments and version-controlled editorial workflows.

Contractor Expectations

Work is normally performed in a remote office environment including, but not limited to standing and sitting for long periods of time; and fine-finger and hand manipulation to operate a computer and keyboard. Contractor is required to have close visual acuity to perform an activity such as preparing and analyzing electronic information, transcribing, viewing a computer terminal, and extensive reading.

Project Management and Invoicing

The contractor will participate in limited project check-ins or editorial consultations as mutually agreed upon and necessary to complete the work.

The contractor will track hours against the 25-hour project maximum and alert the project lead when approaching the agreed-upon limit. Invoices should identify the applicable materials or deliverables and provide sufficient detail regarding the editorial work completed.

Any work beyond the agreed-upon 25-hour scope must be discussed and approved separately before the additional work is performed.