Research Opportunity: K-12 Math & Civics Education

The Institute for Math & Democracy is looking to hire students for the position of research assistants for a project on K-12 math and civics education. The project is jointly run by the Institute for Mathematics and Democracy at Wellesley and the Center for Applied Research in Education at University of Southern California. It will start in October and will last through the 2025-26 academic year. The research assistant position is paid.

The first phase of the project will consist of interviews and focus groups with teachers, school leaders, district leaders, and state department of education staff in several states. The second stage will be to develop resources necessary to support teachers (e.g., curriculum, instructional materials, aligned professional learning) who want to implement math and democracy topics in their classrooms (voting, legislative seat allocation, districting and gerrymandering, proportional representation, Electoral College, quantifying political systems, etc.). Research assistants would help create, coordinate, and assess the phase one work. Depending on how this portion progresses, they might also be involved in the development of curricular materials from phase two.

To apply for the position, please fill out this form by the end of the day on Friday, September 19, 2025.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Professor Ismar Volić at ivolic@wellesley.edu.