The Research & Evaluation Group is committed to supporting the future generation of public health professionals. We offer unpaid internships to graduate and undergraduate students who are interested in developing qualitative and quantitative research and program evaluation skills in a non-profit setting. Interns are granted the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in the PHMC workplace for school credit.

Most interns work on more than one project; this allows interns to enhance their content area expertise in multiple areas and to learn about varied research and evaluation methods. Interns are expected to work 15-20 hours per week, with details arranged on a case by case basis. We do not currently offer full-time internships.

The application window for Spring 2023 internship opportunities is open. Please click on this link to apply for Spring 2023, and read below for more information about the role.

Division of Teaching and Learning

The Division of Teaching and Learning (DTL) provides actionable, client-focused research and evaluation, technical assistance, and capacity-building services to improve the educational outcomes of children, youth and adults. We work with schools and districts, early childhood centers, institutions of higher education, state departments of education, foundations, non-profit organizations, and a wide range of other actors invested in education. Staff bring methodological expertise in the following areas:

• Quasi-experimental studies and randomized control trials
• Systematic or ethnographic classroom observation
• Needs assessments
• Third-party evaluation
• Statistical analysis  

Our work with schools and other learning communities addresses a wide variety of educational research topic areas, including early childhood education, out-of-school time, lifelong learning, and teacher preparation. We view educational inequality as a public health issue, and some project content intersects with public health, such as our studies of school-based health center use and school nurses’ ability to help students with epilepsy. That said, most of our projects focus directly on improving preschool through postsecondary education, offering recommendations to practitioners and policymakers, and contributing to improvements that we hope lead to equitable opportunities for all.

Position: The Division of Teaching & Learning is seeking research interns interested in supporting mixed-methods educational research across different projects, including evaluations of a media production program in Philadelphia public schools, teacher professional development, afterschool programming and more. Interns will gain direct experience on applied social science research projects and an opportunity to enhance quantitative and qualitative skills Interns will gain experience in:

• Using SPSS and Excel to learn about the entire data analysis process by entering, cleaning, tabulating, and analyzing;
• Using Survey Gizmo to create online surveys
• Learning about the of the appropriate usage of online and paper surveys;
• Learning interviewing techniques, possibly analyzing observation data, and using other strategies to analyze qualitative data;
• Networking with colleagues and other professionals throughout a large anchor organization;
• Using literature search databases to sharpen skills related to synthesizing and reviewing information;
• Gaining real-world insight into most aspects of the cycle of research, from design to analysis

Ideally, undergraduate or graduate-level interns bring experience in the following areas: proficiency in Microsoft Office, strong writing skills, and basic levels of social scientific analytical skills. Interns will have the opportunity to work both independently and collaborative with colleagues, and we seek interns with an interest in working in a busy professional environment. You will not be bored!

If you are interested in applying for this internship opportunity for Spring 2023, click here.