2026 Early Career Award Recipient
The purpose of the Early Career award is to recognize a mathematics teacher educator who, while early in their career, has made distinguished contributions and shows exceptional potential for leadership in one or more areas of teaching, service, and/or scholarship.
Erica Litke
University of Delaware
Associate Professor
Biography
Erica Litke | Associate Professor of Mathematics Education | University of Delaware
Erica Litke is an associate professor of mathematics education at the University of Delaware. Her research considers mathematics teaching as an object of study, with the aim of improving the learning opportunities offered to students and making mathematics classrooms more equitable and affirming spaces. She focuses on describing and analyzing instructional practice in mathematics using observation instruments, connecting instructional quality in mathematics to broader policy-related issues in education, and developing teacher knowledge and practice through professional learning. Erica's research has been supported by the National Science Foundation and other foundations and has appeared multiple journals, including Journal for Mathematics Teacher Education, ZDM-Mathematics Education, AERAOpen, Cognition and Instruction, Teachers College Record, Elementary School Journal, Teaching and Teacher Education, and American Educational Research Journal. Erica's scholarship is rooted in her experiences as a high school math teacher at a New York City public school, where she was a Math for America Master Teacher. She received her doctorate at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Erica's work considers how descriptions and measures of teaching can not only inform research, but also provide practical guidance for preservice and practicing teachers. She argues that such work can support an incremental approach to improving instruction, one that builds on teachers' existing practice to bridge toward more ambitious and equitable teaching. One strand focuses on algebra, honing in on features of instruction that support students’ learning opportunities of algebra specifically. This work informed the development of an observational instrument measuring the quality of these algebra-specific teaching practices. It also provided the foundation for a three-year professional learning fellowship for algebra teachers in the School District of Philadelphia. Another strand focuses on how to support teachers to shift toward more equitable teaching practices through rubric-based coaching. Through this work, math coaches and teachers work together to leverage an observation rubric to analyze and deepen teaching practice. Another project aims to understand how teachers translate learning from professional development into changes in their practice.
Erica is happiest working with and learning alongside students. At University of Delaware, she teaches multiple courses for undergraduate preservice teachers focusing on both mathematics content and pedagogy, as well as doctoral courses on research on mathematics teaching and teacher education. She also teaches an undergraduate course for students across majors to consider how public schools in the US are framed as both the causes and solutions to social inequality. She is a running leader and mentor for Students Run Philly Style and can often be found on joyful long runs with middle schoolers through the streets of Philadelphia.