The AMTE election results are in! The new officers will assume their AMTE positions on the Board of Directors at the conclusion of the 2019 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!

The membership has elected Sarah Quebec Fuentes, an Associate Professor at Texas Christian University, to the AMTE Board of Directors as Treasurer (3-year term). In her bio, Sarah writes about goals she has for AMTE:

The three goals that AMTE should consider as a priority are advocacy, re-professionalization of the field, and linking the research and practice communities. These three goals reflect the mission of the organization and are evident in its current work. Although each of the goals has unique characteristics, they are also related to each other. In particular, the continued dissemination and implementation of the AMTE Standards for Preparing Teachers of Mathematics, with the prioritization of equity integrated throughout the document, will support each of the goals.

Recently, teacher education programs have been scrutinized. As mathematics teacher educators, we must be advocates for teacher education in general and mathematics teacher education in particular. To do so, we need to educate ourselves on the issues at hand and contribute our expertise to the conversation. Otherwise, decisions will be made for us, perhaps at our expense. At the American Association of Colleges of Education (AACTE) leadership academy (2016), Dr. Rodrick Lucero, former Vice President of Engagement and Support, spoke to the importance of advocacy. He argued that not only do we need to be advocates for teacher education, but we must also educate our preservice teachers to be ambassadors for teacher education as well as K-12 education.

Similarly, mathematics teachers in the field need to be empowered to make decisions. In the current political climate in education, teachers in some K-12 schools have limited opportunities to make instructional decisions, reflect on their practice, and develop professionally. These teachers are expected to strictly follow scripted curriculum and attend mandated professional development leading to the deskilling or de-professionalization of the field. The re-professionalization of teachers involves mathematics teacher educators supporting teachers in assessing and making decisions to meet their needs as well as the needs of all of their students. Purposefully designed opportunities for professional growth must connect to teachers’ practice and involve long-term engagement such as learning through action research and the use of educative curriculum materials.

In its report, Linking Research & Practice, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) (2010) encourages developing the connection between research and practice: “[T]he research and practice communities have much to contribute to each other’s work; it is only through working in tandem that we can make a concerted effort to improve mathematics teaching and learning in the United States” (p. 6). The work of mathematics teacher educators must cross multiple communities (e.g., universities and K-12 schools), which have different cultures and norms. Learning how to effectively navigate these communities and collaborate with multiple stakeholders (e.g., inservice teachers, preservice teachers, students, and parents) is critical for making mathematics teacher education researchers’ work relevant.

Sarah will assume her role on the Board at the close of the 2019 Business meeting, which takes place at the last day of the Annual Conference. Please join the current AMTE Board members in welcoming Sarahl to this AMTE leadership position!

The membership has elected Enrique Galindo, an Associate Professor at Indiana University, to the AMTE Board of Directors as Member-at-Large (3-year term). In his bio, Enrique writes about his goals for AMTE:

1. Bridging research and practice to promote effective mathematics teacher education programs and practices. This is critical because we are more likely to impact practice if our efforts are informed by research, and our research is more likely to be relevant if it is grounded in practice.
2. Finding ways to take advantage of digital and online resources and tools to support communication and collaboration among those involved in mathematics teacher education. This is critical because the efforts of our organization can be multiplied and we can increase our reach taking advantage of digital technologies.
3. Increasing the diversity of mathematic teachers and teacher educators. This is critical because our organization will be stronger when all voices are represented, and we can better improve education if our teachers and teacher educators reflect the make up and values of our nation.

Enrique will assume his position on the AMTE Board at the close of the 2019 Business meeting, which takes place on the last day of the Annual Conference. Please join the current AMTE Board members in welcoming Enrique to this AMTE leadership position!