Candidate for Board Member-at-Large:
Jane Keiser
Miami University,
Oxford, Ohio
Professional Work Experiences
My career began in 1983 as a middle grades mathematics teacher in Indianapolis. After receiving an MA in mathematics from Ball State University, I taught preservice elementary teachers there and at Taylor University as an instructor over the next four years. These and other work experiences confirmed for me my love of working with teachers, so I entered Indiana University in 1992 to obtain a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction with a cognate in mathematics. My assistantship at IU provided the unique opportunity to be involved in the evaluation and writing of the NSF-funded Connected Mathematics Project (CMP) at Michigan State. This interaction led to my own dissertation research on students’ understandings of the angle concept by observing a 6th-grade CMP classroom. In 1996, I was hired as a mathematics educator for the mathematics department at Miami University where I have enjoyed preparing future K-12 teachers and working with inservice teachers. My scholarship focuses on middle grades students’ thinking and on collaboration with teachers to improve instruction.
Service to AMTE and other professional organizations:As a mathematics educator for Miami University, I served on the Talawanda School District/Miami University Partnership Task Force, mentored five new teachers through their Pathwise Program, and served ten years on the NCATE Task Force. My colleagues and I have been awarded numerous state grants to design and implement professional development experiences for teachers across southwest Ohio.
I first joined AMTE in 2005, and have served the organization as a reviewer for the past three conferences, and on the editorial panel for the seventh monograph. I currently serve on the Membership Committee. As an active member of NCTM since 1983, I have served the Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School journal as the department editor for “Take Time for Action” (2002-2005) and was appointed to serve on the Professional Development Services Committee (2010-2013). I review manuscripts regularly for the Mathematics Thinking and Learning, Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, and Mathematics Teacher Educator journals.
Vision for and commitment to AMTE:
I would like to see AMTE continue to move from being an organization that reacts to policy changes made by others to one that is an equal partner in enacting change in education. We have already made many steps towards this, but I am hopeful that we can have a larger influence on important issues such as the implementation of CCSSM so that its assessment is supported by research and educational expertise. AMTE is the perfect forum for combating the intense scrutiny of teacher education programs—and the teaching profession in general—by sharing current quality educational research and promoting sound models of mathematics instruction.