STEM Teacher Knowledge in the Common Core Era: Building the Standards for Mathematical Practice into Professional Development

Presenters: Kevin McLeod, Henry Kepner
This session will explore a program of professional development around the Common Core State Standards for Mathematical Practice, which was implemented with mathematics teacher leaders in a large urban school district during the 2010–2011 academic year. Each month, the teacher leaders participated in a session that focused on one of the Practice Standards, exemplified through a specific mathematics content task related to a Common Core Content Standard.


About the Presenters:
Kevin McLeod, Associate Professor, Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Kevin McLeod is an associate professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, with interests in differential equations and mathematical physics. Much of his current work focuses on pre-service teacher preparation and in-service teacher professional development. McLeod is co-principal investigator on the NSF MSP project, Milwaukee Mathematics Partnership: Sharing in Leadership for Student Success. McLeod began his career as a professor for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 1987. Since 2004, he has played an active role in planning the mathematical content for coursework for mathematics teacher leaders in Milwaukee Public Schools. In his role as co-principal investigator of the Milwaukee Mathematics Partnership, he was involved in developing a suite of pre-service courses for elementary mathematics teachers at UWM, and has been PI on additional grants (obtained in partnership with MPS) to offer these courses to in-service teachers. Beginning in 2007, McLeod has served on Wisconsin state committees involved with the redesign of state mathematics standards and, more recently, implementation of the Common Core State Standards in Wisconsin. McLeod received his PhD from the University of Minnesota in 1984.

Henry Kepner, Professor, Mathematics Education, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Henry Kepner is a mathematics education professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Kepner was president of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics from 2008 to 2010. He also served five years as a program officer at the National Science Foundation in Washington, D.C. He was a founding member and first president of the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators. He has served as president of the National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics, the Wisconsin Mathematics Council, and the Milwaukee Educational Computing Association. He also taught middle and high school mathematics for twelve years in Milwaukee and Iowa City. He served on the Boards of Directors of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and the School Science and Mathematics Association. In 2003, Kepner received the School Science and Mathematics Association Distinguished Service Award in recognition of his accomplishments and contributions to mathematics education over the past forty-five years. In 2004, he received the School of Education Teaching Award. He is the 2008 recipient of North Shore United Educators’ Award of Excellence. Kepner earned his BS and MS degrees in mathematics and his PhD in Mathematics Education at the University of Iowa.