The Graduate School of Education (GSE) at the University of California, Berkeley, is seeking two fulltime postdoctoral fellows to work with Sophia Rabe-Hesketh and Mark Wilson in the Quantitative Methods and Evaluation (QME) Program. The fellowships are funded by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) of the U.S. Department of Education. Fellows will advance their methodological expertise and conduct research in critical areas of educational practice. They can participate in a range of existing projects associated with the QME Program and the Berkeley Evaluation and Assessment Research (BEAR) Center, and they may also initiate their own research. We currently have several grants to develop and evaluate assessment systems, including assessments of the statistical reasoning and modeling abilities of middle school students, science knowledge among upper elementary school students, mathematics skills among special education students and school-readiness skills among kindergarteners. We also have several methodological projects to develop new models and estimation methods for applications in education, such as evaluation of educational interventions. The research conducted by the postdoctoral fellows can either have a relatively stronger substantive focus or be more methodological in nature, depending on the fellows’ interests and backgrounds.
Postdoctoral fellows will be able to take courses on measurement, evaluation, and statistics within the GSE and across the campus. During the fellowship period, we will invite experts in research methodology to hold workshops and interact directly with the postdoctoral fellows.
To qualify for the fellowship, applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents. They should have a Ph.D. in Education or a related area with a strong background in quantitative methods, or a Ph.D. in a quantitative discipline, such as statistics, with a strong interest in education. Some knowledge of Item Response Theory (IRT) or multilevel/generalized linear mixed models would be an advantage. The expected duration of the fellowships is 2 years with an approximate start date of September 1, 2013, with some flexibility. The annual stipend of the fellowship is $52,500, with family health insurance, and a generous allowance for travel, course attendance, and research support.
Please submit a statement of interest, not exceeding 3 pages, and your CV to: https://aprecruit.berkeley.
Additionally, please arrange for two referees to submit letters of reference. [All letters will be treated as confidential per University of California policy and California state law. Please refer potential referees, including when cover letters are provided via a third party (i.e., dossier service or career center), to the UC Berkeley Statement of Confidentiality found at
http://apo.chance.berkeley.
For questions contact Darah Vickery Savitt: dvs@berkeley.edu
The University of California is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer.