Kristin Umland, University of New Mexico
Illustrative Mathematics (http://illustrativemathematics.org) was started as a way to bring meaning and clarity to the standards by illustrating them with mathematical tasks. In the process, the community of math teachers, math educators, and mathematicians forming around this work revealed itself as possibly more important than the tasks themselves. This interactive presentation looks at current progress as well as the long-term goals and plans for this ambitious project.
About the Presenter:
Kristin Umland, Associate Professor, University of New Mexico
Kristin Umland is an associate professor of mathematics education in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of New Mexico. Her background is in algebraic topology, but for the past nine years she has been working to improve the mathematical preparation of preservice elementary and secondary teachers and has worked extensively in teacher professional development. She has worked at the local, state, and national levels on a broad range of related projects including teacher preparation program development, reviews of state K–12 mathematics standards and assessment, and participation in and organization of workshops and committees intended to clarify the important mathematics that students and teachers need to know. She has worked on a number of research projects related to assessing the quality of mathematics instruction in both K–12 classrooms and elementary and secondary teacher professional development workshops. Umland is currently working with the American Institute of Mathematics to look at the impact of Math Teacher Circles on middle school teachers’ mathematical knowledge and practice and is co-chair of Illustrative Mathematics, a community of teachers, mathematicians, and mathematics educators working to illustrate the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics.
