I have bachelors degrees in physics and chemistry from the University of Arizona. After graduating, I worked as an electro-organic chemist but found it unfulfilling. I took a back door to education by working in the standardized testing industry for 10 years. Through my work in standardized testing I became very interested in education and then went back to school to earn certification. I taught middle school math and high school physics. I loved teaching but not getting up early so I decided to pursue a doctorate in science education (Ph. D.) from the University of Texas at Austin with a science focus of environmental chemistry. While in graduate school, I participated in the curriculum mapping process of the UTeach program, an innovative science and math teacher education program developed at UT, provided induction support to beginning teachers, developed assessments for biomechanical engineering, and provided professional development for middle and high school science teachers.

After completing my doctoral program, I taught science and math education at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, serving as the only faculty member of their teacher certification program. While at NMT, the program went from about five students to more than twenty. I also provided multiple professional develoment programs for science and math teachers and school administrators all over northern New Mexico.

Following my work at NMT, I taught at Northern Arizona University. NAU was one of the first of fifty replication sites for the national UTeach initiative and so I was active in adapting the model to my institution and creating NCATE assessments to align with the UTeach curriculum. I also transformed a summer, residence-based masters program in science teaching to an academic-year, hybrid face-to-face real-time synchronous program. About half of my students attended class on the NAU campus and the other half participated in real-time. I used online collaborative tools innovatively in order to fully integrate educative collaboration among the two different populations. My third major activity at NAU was teaching physical science to practicing elementary teachers through the Math and Science Partnership program.

I just finished my first year at Wittenberg University. My primary responsibility is to teach science methods courses. I also supervise field placements and assist with NCATE accreditation.

Past research projects involve the role of concept mapping in advancing knowledge about teaching, describing administrator understanding of science as inquiry, and teachers' views of equity in the science classroom. My current research looks at teachers' conceptions of science lesson sequence and measuring understanding of the nature of science.

• chemistry
• physics

• science content-specific pedagogy courses
• project-based learning
• professional expertise

I graduated with a degree summa cum laude in Mathematics from Bryn Mawr in '08.  I have been working as a Mathematics Teacher at Bodine High School for International Affairs (a special admission school in the School District of Philadelphia) ever since.  While at Bryn Mawr I was active in the Education department, creating programs with the TLI and serving on the founding committee for the then Social Justice Pilot Program.  During my four years teaching, I have traveled to Mali and Nepal with students to build a school along side villagers through a program called buildOn; I have started a glee club after school at my high school; and I have integrated technology into my classroom through a Classroom for the Future grant.  I look forward to being back on campus for this conference and collaborating with all of you!

• math

• math content-specific pedagogy courses
• social justice education
• education in high need schools
• urban education
• interdisciplinary approaches
• global/international education
• retention
• support structures
• organizational culture

I was an undergraduate at Wesleyan University and earned my Ph.D. in mathematical logic at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. At Vassar, I have chaired the mathematics department and served as associate dean of the faculty. I am the principal investigator on Vassar's NSF Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program grant. I also am the secretary-treasurer of both the Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences (CBMS) and the Association for Symbolic Logic (ASL). I have long been interested in STEM education in high-need districts, and created and have directed for seventeen years a science and mathematics outreach program with Poughkeepsie High School (which I would be happy to describe to anyone interested). 

• math

• math content-specific pedagogy courses
• education in high need schools
• recruitment
• retention
• support structures

Kim Marie Rohrbach earned her B.S. in Mathematics as well as her certification in Elementary Education and Secondary Mathematics Education as a 1992 graduate of Muhlenberg College.  She completed her M.Ed. in Secondary Curriculum and Instruction at Kutztown University in 1997.  She began teaching The Secondary School Curriculum for Mathematics for the Muhlenberg College Education Department part-time in 2001, while still teaching high school mathematics in the public school system.  In 2005, she left the high school classroom to become more involved with Muhlenberg’s Education Department adding a general methods course to her teaching load and serving as a supervisor of student teachers.  In the spring semester of 2012, she increased her participation with the student teaching program, assuming the position of the Director of Student Teaching.  In addition to her involvement with the college, Kim is enjoying raising her two young daughters and participating in their activities.

• math

• math content-specific pedagogy courses
• education in high need schools
• urban education
• interdisciplinary approaches
• project-based learning
• recruitment
• support structures

I have long been interested in many aspects of teaching and learning in mathematics, including discovery-based learning, peer support, and writing in mathematics courses. Though trained in graph theory and combinatorics, my scholarly efforts are now focussed more on pedagogical writing. I taught at Williams College for 14 years before coming to Swarthmore in 2000.

• math

• recruitment
• retention
• support structures

I began as a ninth grade history teacher in the Boston Public Schools, helped create a magnet school during desegregation, and chaired a middle school task force. I worked with others to create the Harvard Principals' Center, while I was studying for my doctorate. I then became the principal of Newton North (MA) High School from 1982 to 1990, and was superintendent of schools in the North Colonie (NY) School District from 1990-2001. Since 2001, I have been a Professor of the Practice in Education and the Harry S. Levitan Director of the Education Program at Brandeis University.

At Brandeis, we currently prepare mathematics and science teachers in our undergraduate teacher education programs, and science teachers in our MAT Program. (We have applied to the state to include mathematics in our secondary MAT.) I am very fortunate to work with Ruth Charney in the Mathematics Department who teaches a course on inquiry-based mathematics for elementary and middle school teachers. Melissa Kosinski-Collins from the Biology Department is also an outstanding teacher who is committed to educating her TA's about how to teach science. Melissa and I are attending the conference together.

• education in high need schools
• urban education
• gender and education
• recruitment
• retention
• professional expertise