AMTEA (Alabama)

AMTEA (Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators of Alabama) met in May to discuss the Standards for Preparing Teachers of Mathematics, issues occurring around our state, edTPA, issues of equity, and our role in the ACTM fall conference. It was a great opportunity to learn about things happening across our state, such as our annual math competition. We also discussed the need to reach out beyond our current membership to other institutions. Our next meeting will be at ACTM. For more information, please visit our website. 

AMTEC (Connecticut)

AMTEC (Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators in Connecticut) held its annual conference on September 23, 2016. The theme was Networking in Times of Transitions. In the spring, we held our annual business meeting on March 24, 2017, which featured presentations, a panel, and breakout sessions around implementing our new edTPA requirement in ways that successfully support our teacher candidates. We were excited to have these two opportunities to bring together our wonderful colleagues across the state engaged in mathematics teacher education. This year also saw us grow our membership and establish a web presence, thanks to the efforts of graduate student Victoria Schilling, with our new website.

As this is our first submission to the Affiliates’ Corner, we would like to announce our current board members: President Megan Staples (University of Connecticut), Vice President Marie Nabbout-Cheiban (Southern CT State University), Treasurer Maria Mitchell (Central CT State University), Secretary Lindsay Keazer (Central CT State University), and Board members Tutita Casa (University of Connecticut), Becky Hall (Western CT State University), Marty Hartog (Southern CT State University), and Pete Johnson (Eastern CT State University).

AMTE-NC (North Carolina)

AMTE-NC (Association of Mathematics Teacher Educations–North Carolina) had a very productive annual meeting, with Dr. Robert Berry speaking about his advocacy work with young black boys. Dr. Berry’s talk led our affiliate to brainstorm ways that our organization can be a leader in advocating for mathematics education in NC. As a result, we created a Communications Committee (Chair Drew Polly) and an Advocacy Committee (Chair yet to be determined).

As a result of our recent election, May 15, Allison McCulloch from UNC Charlotte will be the incoming President-Elect, with Michelle Stephan (UNC Charlotte) becoming Past President and Temple Walkowiak (NC State) taking over as current President.

HAMTE (Indiana)

HAMTE (Hoosier Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators) has much to report. Members of the HAMTE Advocacy Task Force led a discussion session, “Advocacy Efforts of AMTE Affiliates,” at the 2017 AMTE conference; members of HAMTE and AMTE-NC are working on a follow-up publication. In March, HAMTE hosted two events in Indiana: (1) the sixth annual Indiana Mathematics Research Symposium where participants from eight Midwestern universities gave 27 presentations. Keynote speakers were Alyson Lischka from Middle Tennessee State University and Gloriana Gonzalez from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana and (2) the second annual Indiana Mathematics Teacher Leadership Conference. In addition to six sessions led by Indiana mathematics coaches, school leaders, and mathematics teacher educators, keynote speaker Lynsey Gibbons from Boston University presented, “Organizing for Collective Learning: Transforming Practice Together.” 

HAMTE also held its first Spring Retreat in May. Members from eight universities gathered for a day filled with engagement in “Math Circles for Social Justice,” discussion about “Equity Within Mathematics Education Research as a Political Act: Moving from Choice to Intentional Collective Professional Responsibility,” overview of HAMTE accomplishments and initiatives, and sharing of resources for teaching content and methods courses. Finally, this summer, HAMTE members from four universities will continue their work with 60 teachers participating in the final year of the Creating Algebra for Teacher Communities of Hoosiers (CATCH), a three-year MSP grant. If you have any questions about the work of HAMTE, please contact President Sheryl Stump.

MAMTE (Mississippi)

MAMTE (Mississippi Assocation of Mathematics Teacher Educators) held its Annual Symposium on May 12, 2017 at the Blackjack Cabin in Starkville, MS, after devastating tornadoes destroyed much of the William Carey campus (original location). During the symposium, a group representing five universities, two colleges, two school districts, and the state department of education gathered and began by revisiting the mission, vision, constitution and bylaws. Current MAMTE task forces include Elementary Mathematics Specialist, Middle Level Endorsement, Quality Field Experiences, and Praxis II. In addition to revisiting the progress of the task forces, the group celebrated a decade of collaboration by enjoying cake and discussing MAMTE successes and collaborations.

The group discussed plans for the fall 2017 meeting, which occurs annually during the NCTM affiliate meeting, as well as plans for the 2018 symposium, anticipated to be held at William Carey University. 

MI-AMTE (Michigan)

The Statistics Education Special Interest Group (SIG) of MI-AMTE (Michigan Chapter of the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators) partnered with the American Statistical Association to offer a one-day workshop Get Set for SET: Engaging in the Statistical Education of Teachers. It was held March 17, 2017, the day before the MI-AMTE annual conference. Nineteen mathematics teacher educators engaged in activities and discussions regarding developing the statistical content knowledge of K-12 teachers, including inservice and preservice teachers. Leaders included Chris Franklin, the American Statistical Association’s K-12 Statistical Ambassador, and four leaders of the SIG: Stephanie Casey (Eastern Michigan University), Christine Browning (Western Michigan University), Jon Hasenbank (Grand Valley State University), and Darlene Kohrman (Kalamazoo Valley Community College). The workshop was deemed a success by all, and other AMTE affiliates are encouraged to reach out to Chris Franklin to support offering such workshops in other locations.

MI-AMTE’s Get Set for SET Workshop: To learn how your affiliate can host a statistics education workshop, contact Chris Franklin.

NJAMTE (New Jersey)

NJAMTE (New Jersey Association of Mathemaitcs Teacher Educators) has been involved in several issues revolving around the math preparation of pre-service elementary education majors. One issue is to prepare them for the Core academic skills test that they must pass in order to enter the Schools of Education, and another issue is the recommended mathematics courses(s) that should be taken, especially for students at the community colleges transferring to four-year institutions.

In October 2016, NJAMTE co-sponsored a conference with the Association of NJ Deans of Education to address the issues of preparing for the core academic skill and recommended courses.  As a result of the conference, two committees were formed.  Dr. James Beyers, Chair of the Education Department at the College of New Jersey, will chair a committee to examine the Core Academic Skills test with faculty from two-year and four-year colleges/university and representatives from NJDOE and ETS.

The second committee created being chaired by Dr. Bonnie Gold, professor emeritus from Monmouth University, will evaluate the number of courses required for elementary education majors.  She will work with the community colleges to ensure that the course content of math courses that elementary education majors take in their first two years is similar to those at the four-year institutions.  Dr. Gold and Dr. Cathy Liebars have also approached the NJDOE to increase the number of math courses currently required for the elementary education major to ensure that they possess the content, rigor and fluency to teach math and engage the students.

PAMTE (Pennsylvania)

PAMTE (Pennsylvania Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators) held its 11th Annual Symposium on May 17-18, 2017 at Shippensburg University.  The two-day event started with a working lunch group discussion on secondary mathematics methods courses and ended with another working lunch group on elementary mathematics content courses. There were two plenary sessions centered on the Standards for Preparing Teachers of Mathematics, followed by breakout sessions where presenters shared what they are doing in their classroom, research, and what is going on around the state.

TOTOM (Oregon)

The annual TOTOM (Teachers of Teachers of Mathematics) conference will be held on September 7-9, 2017 at George Fox University in Newberg, OR.

WI-AMTE (Wisconsin)

WI-AMTE (Wisconsin Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators) has been busy in its inaugural year. We convened a state-wide webinar to discuss the challenges associated with the secondary Praxis II exam in January, leading to a larger meeting between the Department of Public Instruction, ETS, and higher education stakeholders in May to follow up on the issues. We partnered with the Wisconsin Mathematics Council to create a teacher education track at the WMC Annual Meeting May 3-5 in Green Lake, Wisconsin. This track included sessions on coaching and professional development, the edTPA, the new AMTE Standards for Preparing Teachers of Mathematics, and a teacher education open forum. As a part of this work, WI-AMTE and WMC co-sponsored a Preservice and Early-Career Teacher Action Research Poster Session at the meeting. The poster session was such a big hit that it lasted 45 minutes longer than its allotted time, as preservice and experienced teachers engaged in great conversations around their work. Finally, the WI-AMTE members identified priorities for 2017-2018 at the Annual Business Meeting. If you have any questions about the work of WI-AMTE, please contact President Michael Steele.

Submitting your Affiliate News Items to the Affiliates Corner

Every issue of AMTE Connections includes an affiliates-focused section called Affiliates Corner. Each affiliate and affiliate region may submit news items describing recent and upcoming activities and initiatives. ACC regional representatives will communicate the calls for submissions to all affiliate leaders.

Affiliates are welcome to submit news items in advance of the official call. Send your news to amteaffiliate@gmail.com using the heading NEWS ITEM. The submission will be included in the next edition of AMTE Connections’ Affiliates Corner.

Your AMTE Affiliates Connections Committee

The 2017 ACC members and the regions/affiliates they serve appear below.

Tom Evitts	ACC Chair	Facilitates all ACC Reps
Michelle Stephan	West Region	OR, CA, UT, TX
Jill Newton	Midwest Region	MI, IA, IL, IN, MO, WI
Maureen Grady	Southeast 1 Region	MD, NC, SC, GA, VA
Mary Pat Sjostrom	Southeast 2 Region	FL, TN, MS, AL, KY
Hartono Tjoe	Northeast Region	MA, CT, NJ, PA

 

The Affiliates Connections Committee and Chair can be contacted through the email address: amteaffiliate@gmail.com or through contact information provided at https://amte.net/committee/affiliate-connections-committee.