Highlights from the 2018 Annual Conference in Houston, TX!

On February 8-10, 2018, AMTE hosted our Twenty-Second Annual Conference in Houston, TX which was attended by more than 530 people. More than 440 presenters provided many outstanding sessions. There were opportunities to visit and catch up with colleagues and meet new ones during meals and breaks. The poster session was held on the 24th floor of the conference hotel in a room that provided a view of the city of Houston as well as a great space to view more than 30 posters and visit with the presenters.

At 8:00 a.m. on Thursday, we began the conference with a session titled, “Expanding Equity in Mathematics Education to Include LGBTQ+ People.” Presenters included Randy Philipp, San Diego State University; Laurie Rubel, Brooklyn College, The City University of New York; and Stephen Russell, University of Texas, Austin. In the afternoon, a panel moderated by Kathryn Chval, University of Missouri, addressed “Meeting the Standards for Preparing Teachers of Mathematics: What Will It Take?” Panel members included writing team members Julia Aguirre, University of Washington, Tacoma; James Lewis, University of Nebraska, Lincoln; Travis Olson, University of Nevada, Las Vegas; Nicole Rigelman, Portland State University; and Marilyn Strutchens, Auburn University. On Friday, Margaret (Peg) Smith, University of Pittsburgh, gave this year’s Judith E. Jacobs Lecture titled, "A Mathematics Educator's Journey:  Responding to an Evolving Field." We thank all of these keynote speakers for sharing their time and their expertise with those attending this year’s conference.

During the conference, materials and information of interest to members were available from:

  • CPM Educational Program
  • Hewlett Packard
  • Information Age Publishing
  • The Math Learning Center
  • National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM)
  • National Geographic Learning
  • National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics (NCSM)
  • Pearson
  • TODOS: Mathematics For All.

We thank each of these exhibitors for contributing to the success of this conference.

Following the concurrent sessions on Thursday, AMTE attendees enjoyed Tex-Mex food and learned from and visited with representatives from local groups who described the services and support they provide to LGBTQ+ individuals, families, and communities. Thank you to Angela Broaddus from Benedictine College in Kansas for coordinating the details of this event.

On Friday morning, the Advocacy Breakfast was led by Della Cronin from Washington Partners, LLC and Karen King from the National Science Foundation. The panel members talked about how they approach advocacy in various contexts, highlighted important issues related to research and practice, and responded to questions from the audience.

At a Friday evening reception, more than 200 graduate students, early career faculty, and AMTE leaders had an opportunity to meet and talk with each other. Thank you to Information Age Publishing and NCTM for supporting the reception.

At the business meeting on Saturday, members were encouraged to make plans to attend the Twenty-Third AMTE Conference, which will be held at the Rosen Plaza Hotel in Orlando, FL on February 7-9, 2019. Please see an announcement about the Call for Proposals on the AMTE website.

Thanks to all who attended this year’s conference and to all of those who helped deliver the conference. This includes the 2018 Program Committee led by Farshid Safi from the University of Central Florida. Thank you to Jen Chauvot from the University of Houston and colleagues and students in Texas and elsewhere in the country for the tremendous support at registration. Another thank you goes to Dusty Jones from Sam Houston State University for leading all of the local technology support.

See you in February 2019!

Susan Gay, Conference Director