AFFILIATE NEWS

AMTE-NC (North Carolina)

AMTE-NC (Association of Mathematics Educators, North Carolina) held its annual business meeting on Thursday, November 2, 2017. They invited a distinguished panel of education experts from NC to discuss the theme, What does the future of mathematics teacher preparation look like in NC? Dr. Ellen McIntyre, Dean of UNC Charlotte College of Education, Mr. Mark Jewell, President, North Carolina Association of Educators, Dr. Michael Maher, Assistant Dean of Professional Education & Accreditation, NC State University, and Representative Amos Quick, District 58, NC House of Representatives, each described the future of teacher preparation from their professional perspective. Towards the end of the panel discussion, AMTE-NC members were invited to work with their legislators, teacher advocacy organizations, and universities to play a role in future teacher prep laws and programs. On another note, AMTE-NC honored Aaron Trocki and Jennifer Curtis for their work on the AMTE-NC Executive Board. 

AMTE-TX (Texas)

AMTE-TX (Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators in Texas) held its Fifth Annual Fall Conference on September 29 and 30, 2017, hosted in collaboration with Tarrant County College-South Campus and Texas Christian University. The theme of the conference was Social Justice and Equity in Mathematics Education. The conference opened with a welcome by AMTE President, Randy Philipp, followed by a virtual panel of scholars in the field, including Julia Aguirre, Marta Civil, Eric Gutstein, Danny Bernard Martin, and Dorothy White. This morning session set the stage for rich discussions and afternoon breakout sessions by AMTE-TX members.

HAMTE (Indiana)

HAMTE (Hoosier Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators) members have continued to address the affiliate’s promotion and advocacy goals during Fall 2017.

Promoting Research and Scholarly Endeavors

Most notably, HAMTE became the first state affiliate of AMTE to host the Annual Conference of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (PME-NA) in Indianapolis, Indiana on October 5-8, 2017. Reviews from the conference suggest that participants enjoyed the location with proximity to downtown Indianapolis and the events of the conference including opportunities to network and informally discuss ideas.

HAMTE Crossroads Newsletter, edited by Andrew Gatza, has included a new section “Thinking Equity in Mathematics Education.” The inclusion of this section is aligned with AMTE's commitment to advocacy and equity. The first paper published in the new section was “Feminist and Queer Perspectives on Mathematics and its Teaching and Learning,” authored by Betsy Kersey (2017). 

Advocacy

The ongoing work of Sheryl Stump, Gina Yoder, Jill Newton, Nandini Bhowmick to gain insight into fostering commitment to advocacy produced a series of recommendations for state affiliates published in the Fall 2017 issue of AMTE Connections. These recommendations are timely, in light of recent attacks on the professional work of scholars in mathematics teacher education. Statements supporting the work of colleagues are a good first step when organizations are positioned to react to such attacks on members, but as Stump et al. (2017) suggest, “Our preferred mode, of course, is to be proactive; however, reactive advocacy is a reality for many affiliates.” This statement raises questions about ways affiliates and AMTE can be proactive advocates for mathematics teacher educators and teachers who take critical stances in their scholarship and in their practice.

In a move to meet the needs of and learn from Indiana mathematics education graduate students, the HAMTE Board presented a proposal for a new board position: Graduate Student Outreach Coordinator. The coordinator will work to recruit graduate student members and coordinate graduate student collaboration across institutions. HAMTE will vote on an amendment to the HAMTE constitution and bylaws creating this new board position by January 5, 2018. Sue Ellen Richardson volunteered to fill this role until a member can be elected in 2018.

Upcoming Events

HAMTE will once again support the Indiana Mathematics Education Research Symposium (IMERS), to be held March 2, 2018 in Indianapolis, Indiana. This one day conference is designed to provide mathematics education graduate students with an opportunity to present and receive feedback on recently completed studies, studies in progress, and studies still under development. Keynote speakers will be Dana Cox of Miami University and Nicole Joseph of Vanderbilt University. HAMTE welcomes graduate students interested in participating in IMERS to contact Sue Ellen Richardson for further information about this event.

For the third year, HAMTE will host the Mathematics Teacher Leadership Conference on March 9, 2018 in Indianapolis, Indiana. This event draws teacher leaders from across Indiana together for a day of community and professional development focused on the work of Elementary Mathematics Specialists. For more information about this event contact Doris Mohr.

References

Kersey, B. (2017). Feminist and queer perspectives on mathematics and its teaching and learning. HAMTE Crossroads, 6(2).

Stump, S., Stephan, M., Yoder, G., Preston, R., Newton, J., & Bhowmick, N. (2017). Advocacy efforts by AMTE affiliates: Looking back on lessons learned and looking ahead toward increased impact. AMTE Connections, 27(1).

UAMTE (Utah)

UAMTE (Utah Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators) will hold its Annual Conference on April 7th, 2018. The keynote speaker will be Martin A. Simon from New York University. 

VA-AMTE (Virginia)

VA-AMTE (Virgina Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators) held its first Retreat on September 23, 2017, at Mary Baldwin University in Staunton, VA. The keynote speaker was Beth Kobett from Stevenson University who set the stage for a later discussion about "Who Are We." Those in attendance narrowed our focus to collaboration, support, and outreach. Small groups were formed for each of these areas to further explore what it might mean to our association.  

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.

Managing your Affiliate Page in the AMTE Affiliates Directory

Is your affiliate’s page in the AMTE Affiliates Directory up to date? One representative from each affiliate can be granted access to edit that affiliate’s information in the online directory. Each affiliate page includes an overview section that can link to the affiliate website, a list of affiliate leaders, and a section for additional information.

To find out more about managing your affiliate’s webpage, go to https://amte.net/affiliates/manage  The link to the AMTE Web Team provides an easy way to register or change your affiliate representative. 

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.