The AMTE election results are in! The new officers will assume their AMTE positions on the Board of Directors at the conclusion of the 2017 Annual Conference in Orlando this February. A brief introduction to our new officers is provided below. Their full biographical statements can be found on the AMTE website. Once again, congratulations, and thank you to the Nominations and Elections Committee for their service to AMTE!

Secretary (3-year term): Sandi Cooper, Baylor University

Sandi is a Professor in the School of Education at Baylor University, Waco, TX.

She writes:

In a review of recent goals and priorities and based on my own involvement, there are three goals that I think AMTE should consider as a priority in the coming years.  First of all, as stated in recent priorities, AMTE should “Strengthen AMTE’s advocacy for high quality mathematics teacher education in support of quality mathematics teaching.”  In recent years, teacher education programs have come under great criticism for not offering quality teacher preparation.  In addition, AMTE has always sought to prepare high quality teachers in the area of mathematics.  Through effective advocacy, we can be a collective voice to share the outstanding work of mathematics teacher education programs and the critical need for high quality mathematics teachers, especially in the elementary grades. 

Another priority, which may actually move this first identified priority forward, would be to strengthen or reorganize the function and structure of the AMTE Affiliates.  With 21 active Affiliates, the mission of AMTE could be coordinated within specific states or regions as well as nationally.  The structure of the Affiliates could develop into a national network that might lead to a more concerted effort to accomplish the priorities of AMTE.

A third priority that I would propose would be to support the professional growth of the next generation of Mathematics Teacher Educators (MTEs).  AMTE has already led efforts to support early career MTEs and enhance doctoral programs in mathematics education.  How can we take this to the next level to prepare the next generation of MTEs to be effectively prepared for the future?  AMTE needs to consider the potential issues early career MTEs may have to address in the near future.

Member-at-Large (3-year term): Eva Thanheiser, Portland State University

Eva is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Portland State University, Portland, OR.

She writes:

First I would like to address equity; equity is listed in AMTE’s mission statement in the last bullet point… I would like AMTE to expand on this twofold, first helping teacher educators and teachers understand what equity means and why equity matters. This is essential to accomplish the goal as one cannot practice what one does not know/understand. Second by increasing the focus on equity during the conference and beyond and making it actionable to its members. I would like to see AMTE increase workshops addressing what equitable practices are, how to incorporate equitable practices into teacher education, and help teacher educators understand and implement equitable practices themselves.

Second, I would like to address community and communities of practice. Community is part of in AMTE’s mission statement in the second bullet point… While this bullet addresses communication and collaboration I think going a step further and working on a community (or several communities) for AMTE members is essential as AMTE grows and new members are not as easily integrated as they used to be. While we do have a program [STaR] that has limited capacity and mostly forms community among new researchers, I think further emphasis could be placed on supporting members of the AMTE community in ways they need support. I imagine support within the scope of the AMTE conference and support beyond the scope of the AMTE conference. …

A third goal for AMTE should be accessibility, in particular for people who teach mathematics teacher education courses and are the only mathematics educator at their place or people who cannot travel to attend AMTE regularly. In addition to what is currently being done I imagine an active discussion board/forum that would allow people to connect with each other, share ideas, and discuss issues around all kinds of different topics. I would be happy to start working on such a forum and monitor it.