Candidate for Treasurer:
Sarah Quebec Fuentes
Texas Christian University,
Fort Worth, Texas
Professional Work Experiences
Sarah Quebec Fuentes is currently an Associate Professor in mathematics education at Texas Christian University. She was a middle and high school mathematics teacher for ten years prior to receiving her doctoral degree in mathematics education from Montclair State University. She teaches mathematics methods courses for undergraduate preservice teachers across all grade levels, graduate mathematics education courses, and an action research course. She is interested in the teaching and learning of mathematics for understanding with her research projects focusing on classroom discourse, teacher knowledge, educative curriculum, teacher self-efficacy, collaboration, and developing fraction sense. Her body of work was recently recognized through the School Science and Mathematics Association Outstanding Early Career Scholar Award.
Service to AMTE and Other Professional Organizations
Sarah is an active member of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, the School Science and Mathematics Association, and the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators as well as its Texas affiliate. For NCTM, she is currently a co-editor for the Problem Solvers Department for Teaching Children Mathematics. Sarah and her co-editor are responsible for writing/editing the monthly problem submissions and compiling and synthesizing teachers’ implementation of these monthly problems. For SSMA, Sarah is a member of the Finance Committee, which reviews the annual budget and makes recommendations regarding expenditures.
As a member of AMTE, Sarah served on the Local Arrangements Committee for the 2012 Annual Conference in Fort Worth, Texas. She has also had several leadership roles in the AMTE affiliate, the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators in Texas (AMTE-TX). She is currently the President-Elect and has served as Program Co-Chair for the Fall 2015 Conference and Treasurer. Her roles and responsibilities as treasurer included establishing and maintaining a local bank account, receiving membership fees, maintaining a membership database, managing conference registration fees, dispersing/reimbursing for all expenditures, keeping the budget electronically, participating in board meetings, and preparing budget reports for the annual business meeting. Further, during her tenure as treasurer, the leadership team worked collaboratively to increase membership; these efforts resulted in a 39% increase in membership.
Vision for and Commitment to AMTE
Through her research on collaboration as well as the many collaborations in which she is involved, Sarah understands the value of working together towards a shared goal. As a mathematics education community, we can collaboratively address such issues as advocacy, re-professionalization of the field, and linking the research and practice communities. We must be advocates for teacher education in general and mathematics teacher education in particular. To do so, we need to educate ourselves on the issues at hand and contribute our expertise to the conversation. Similarly, mathematics teachers in the field need to be empowered to make decisions. In the current political climate in education, teachers in some K-12 schools have limited opportunities to make instructional decisions, reflect on their practice, and develop professionally. The re-professionalization of teachers involves supporting teachers in assessing and making decisions to meet their needs as well as the needs of their students. Lastly, our work must cross multiple communities, which have different cultures and norms. Learning how to effectively navigate these communities and collaborate with multiple stakeholders is critical for making our work relevant. These three goals reflect the mission of AMTE and are evident in the organization’s continued work.