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  • Denise A. Spangler

    Denise A. Spangler, Candidate for Director, At-Large

    Position: Professor (mathematics education) (2006–) and associate dean (College of Education) (2014–), University of Georgia (UGA).

    Education: B.S.Ed. (elementary education), Illinois State University; M.S. (mathematics), Illinois State University; Ph.D. (mathematics education), UGA. 

    Previous Experience: Head, Department of Mathematics and Science Education (2006–14), associate professor (2000–06), and assistant professor (1995–2000), UGA; instructor, Illinois State University (1989–91); elementary teacher, Rockwood (Missouri) School District (1987–88).

    Memberships: NCTM, Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (AMTE), American Educational Research Association (AERA), Georgia Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

    Activities in NCTM: Member, editorial panel, Third Handbook of Research on Mathematics Teaching and Learning (in process, 2012–); chair (2011–14) and member (2011–15),Mathematics Teacher Educator Editorial Panel; chair (2008–10) and member (2007–10),Journal for Research in Mathematics Education (JRME) Editorial Panel.

    Other Activities: AERA: chair, Awards Committee, Special Interest Group for Research in Mathematics Education (2012–14); AMTE: member, Task Force on Elementary Mathematics Specialists (2009), and chair, Nominating Committee (2005); International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (North American Chapter): chair-elect (2000–01), chair (2001­–02), and member-at-large (2002–03); 8th International Congress on Mathematical Education: subgroup chair, Working Group on Research and Practice (1996).

    Publications: Author: “Attending to Teachers in Mathematics Teacher Education Research,” inResearch Trends in Mathematics Teacher Education (Springer 2014); “Teaching, Teachers’ Knowledge, and Their Professional Development,” in A Research Companion to “Principles and Standards for School Mathematics” (NCTM 2003); “Reflective Thinking among Preservice Elementary Mathematics Teachers,” JRME (1999); coauthor: “Using Rich Tasks to Promote Discourse,” in Annual Perspectives in Mathematics Education (NCTM 2014); “Statistics in the Elementary Grades: Exploring Distributions of Data,” Teaching Children Mathematics (2008); series editor, Teachers Engaged in Research: Inquiry into Mathematics, vols. 1–4 (NCTM/Information Age 2006). Numerous other publications.

    Honors: Richard B. Russell Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching (2006), Bebe Aderhold Professor in Early Childhood Education (2013–), UGA.

    Statement: Making NCTM’s digital publications available in smaller units, such as book chapters, would allow one to assemble materials related to a particular topic. Making it easy to pull high-quality content from a variety of Council publications could increase nonmembers’ exposure to Council publications.

    E-Seminars that introduce members to available resources from NCTM could increase awareness of NCTM resources, get more of these resources in the hands of members, and provide greater return on what NCTM has already invested in developing these resources.

    Providing leadership for the next iteration of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics is a critical challenge facing NCTM. NCTM offers the best venue for engaging thoughtful, knowledgeable, experienced, and committed mathematics teachers in the revision process, and NCTM has much to offer based on its prior experience with standards documents.

    My experiences as a classroom teacher, teacher educator, researcher, and school board member give me a broad perspective on a variety of issues facing the Council. In particular, my twelve years on a school board in a district that has a very diverse student population and has closed achievement gaps gives me an appreciation for the complex environments in which teachers work but also reinforces my conviction that all students can learn mathematics at high levels of achievement.