Post-Doctoral Fellowship for the LieCal Project
(2008-2010)

We are looking for a Post-Doctoral Fellow to work on the LieCal Project (A Longitudinal Investigation of Curricular Effect on Algebra Learning).  The LieCal Project, funded by the National Science Foundation, investigates whether the Connected Mathematics Program (CMP) can effectively enhance student learning in algebra. The LieCal Project investigates not only the ways and circumstances under which the CMP curriculum can or cannot enhance student learning, but also the characteristics of the curriculum and implementation that lead to student achievement gains. We are conducting the project in 16 middle schools of an urban school district in the United States. Eight of the participating schools have adopted the CMP curriculum and the other eight use a non-CMP curriculum. All the mathematics teachers in each school and all their students participate in the project, beginning with the 6th grade. All these 6th-grade students are being closely followed for three years as they move to 7th and 8th grade within the same schools. In addition, about 100 of the CMP students and 100 of the non-CMP students will be closely followed next year as they move into 9th grade in the district’s high schools.

The project includes three major components.  (1) We are investigating how selected curricula were designed and developed; (2) we are investigating how teachers actually implement the curricula in the classrooms; and, (3) We are examining what students actually learn in classroom. This longitudinal study investigates curriculum issues under the implementation conditions that arise in urban settings while controlling for variation among teachers and specific classrooms of students.

This 5-year project started in 2005, and by the summer of 2008, we will complete all of the data collection for the middle school students.  We invite a motivated scholar to join our team, as we work and learn together.  While this project is co-directed by Dr. Jinfa Cai (University of Delaware, Newark, DE) and Dr. John Moyer (Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI), the post-doctoral fellow will reside at the University of Delaware. 

The successful applicants should be able to work collaboratively and take a leadership role on some aspects of the research project. We are especially interested in a scholar in mathematics education, educational measurement and statistics or other related fields, who can contribute to the analysis of both student achievement data and classroom observation data, review of scholarly literature, and writing scholarly papers for publications.

Because the project is in its last two and a half years, the post-doctoral fellowship provides ample opportunities for contributing to the scholarly writing and publications. 

To apply for the post-doctoral fellowship, please send your CV and names of three references with contact information to Dr. Jinfa Cai (jcai@udel.edu).  If you have any questions regarding the project, please contact Dr. Jinfa Cai (jcai@udel.edu) or Dr. John C. Moyer (johnm@mscs.mu.edu).