Examining Our Work

November 2022

I am humbled and honored as I begin my term as the NCTM President. I look forward to meeting and working with many wonderful mathematics educators. As a society, we are facing many challenges and will likely face many more in these next two years. Mathematics education, as well as the broader education community, also face many challenges as we seek to better serve each and every student. There are also some very exciting opportunities ahead of us and I am committed to making the most of them to help improve mathematics teaching and learning.

We must constantly examine our classroom practices and procedures so that they are best meeting the needs of each of our students and then make changes when necessary. As professionals, we should be collaborating with colleagues to help keep us accountable and gather different perspectives and feedback on our ideas. We should also be reading articles and books, watching webinars, and attending conferences in order to challenge our thinking and help us reflect on what we are currently doing and what we should do differently.

As an organization, NCTM is challenging its own thinking and practices. We have been working with a consultant to help us examine how we address and reflect diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). As part of this, we will be reviewing our policies and procedures with a DEI lens as we determine ways to represent the mathematics education community. Change may occur too fast for some and not fast enough for others, but I feel fortunate to work with a Board and staff who are committed to this work on behalf of our members.

I want to thank Trena Wilkerson for her work as President these past two and a half years. She has helped lead the organization through the pandemic and had a drastically different presidency than what she imagined. Her constant reminders that we are all on a journey and the need to hear a variety of perspectives are greatly appreciated.

I look forward to meeting many of you over the next two years. Please introduce yourself and share your successes as well as your challenges with me as we all strive to meet the needs of each of our students.

Kevin Dykema
NCTM President
@kdykema