Blog: My Visit to Capitol Hill

March 27, 2023

This is the first of what will be periodic posts to update members and non-members on NCTM work and initiatives. Several weeks ago, I visited Capitol Hill to meet with staff at the Department of Education, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, and the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. These meetings were a good opportunity to begin to form relationships, share ideas about mathematics education, and hear from staff what information they need and would like from NCTM. It is important that NCTM has a voice in policy discussions and I’m optimistic that we were able to lay a foundation through these meetings to be a resource for both the Department of Education and committee staff.

Capitol Hill staff had two main requests. They would like to see any research that shows the effectiveness of mathematics education professional development. A second request was for stories on how stimulus money has been used to support mathematics education. If you have information or examples for either request, please contact me at [email protected].

I also want to let you know that NCTM’s Advocacy Toolkit was recently updated. This toolkit provides you information on how to become involved in advocacy efforts as well as on NCTM’s priorities. It also includes the 2023 NCTM Legislative Platform, which was just approved by the Board of Directors and outlines our policy priorities for the year.

I look forward to providing additional updates on advocacy and other work and initiatives in the upcoming months.

Kevin Dykema
NCTM President
@kdykema