Catherine Paolucci is a Senior Research Associate on WestEd’s Mathematics Team with more than 20 years of experience as a mathematics teacher, teacher educator, and mathematics education researcher. Her teaching experience ranges from middle school to graduate-level mathematics and includes undergraduate and graduate courses on various education topics, including education policy.
Paolucci joined WestEd from the University of Florida, where she ran multiple graduate programs in mathematics education. In this and previous faculty roles, Paolucci directed teacher licensure and professional development programs in several states, played a substantial role in developing undergraduate teacher education programs and policies in Ireland, and developed a mathematics enrichment program for students in rural communities in South Africa. She has also served as an education policy adviser in the U.S. Senate and worked in the National Science Foundation through fellowships sponsored by the American Mathematical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Paolucci’s research has focused on teachers’ mathematical knowledge development and affective development in K–12 and undergraduate mathematics. Her work has been supported by funding from the National Science Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Microsoft, the European Union, Ireland’s Department of Education and Skills, and several smaller foundations and nonprofits. It has also been published in national reports, books, and prominent journals such as Teaching and Teacher Education and Journal of Teacher Education.
Paolucci earned her BA in mathematics from Hartwick College and her MA and EdD in mathematics education from Teachers College, Columbia University.