President's Message

Spring 2026

Leading as a Diverse Community of Scholars Toward Strategic Collective Actions

I would like to begin by reflecting on the wonderful gathering of our community at our 30th Annual Conference from February 5-7, 2026 in Portland, OR. The power of togetherness was on full display as our community gathered and showcased their humanity, brilliance, diversity, expertise, joy as well as partnerships and possibilities ahead. We reiterated our commitment towards collective action including acknowledgments that:

  • Advocacy & action often take on different forms in different contexts, 
  • Need to remain vigilant by focusing on research, partnerships, and coalition building,
  • Affirming our sustained commitment to our interlinked communities,  
  • Education and literacy are necessary and critical keys towards a more just society

During our 2026 AMTE annual conference we welcomed over 860 registered attendees including over 330 first time attendees! Our vibrant community is made up of brilliant educators from multiple educational contexts, at different points along their professional journeys, and with connections to mathematics education, statistics education, data science education, STEM education, mathematical modeling as well as colleagues who engage in policy work at local, state, and national levels. As an organization, AMTE is poised to continue to lead as a hub for national collaborative efforts, to bring about needed interdisciplinary and synergistic goals that span across disciplinary areas through forming coalitions with teacher education groups, non-profit organizations and professional societies.    

I would also like to highlight a few sessions and efforts that continue to resonate and guide our current and future work as an organization:

  • 2026 Opening Session: The Future We Teach For: Strengthening Our Collective Voices and Actions in Mathematics Teacher Education
  • Collective Action Supporting Teachers & Mathematics Teacher Educators (CAST-MTE) Task Force & Sessions 
  • Judith E. Jacobs Lecturer, Dr. Hollylynne Lee, with her engaging talk titled Preparing Teachers for Modern Mathematics Curriculum: The Role of MTEs in Teaching and Learning about Data
  • Presidential Exchange Series: Advocating for Transformative Change 

Huge thanks to the wonderful perspectives provided by our 2026 Opening Session panelists Dr. Katey Arrington (NCSM Leadership and the Charles Dana Center), Dr. Rachael Brown (Penn State Abington University), Dr. Charles E. Wilkes, II (UC Davis), and Dr. Jennifer A. Wolfe (University of Arizona), and AMTE Past-President Dr. Enrique Galindo who moderated this session. Their focus on humanizing the work that we do while reminding us of the importance of our teaching, research, policy and advocacy work set the stage perfectly for the critical conversations throughout the conference and beyond. 

The phenomenal work of our Collective Action Supporting Teachers & Mathematics Teacher Educators (CAST-MTE) Task Force guided timely and critical conversations leading into the conference, during our annual conference and continues on. We are so privileged to have the guidance of Dr. Crystal Kalinec-Craig, Dr. Jennifer Suh, and Dr. Mike Steele who continue to lead the work of the CAST-MTE task force. Grateful for their advocacy, leadership, humanity and superb activism!

I would like to thank NCTM, NCSM, ASSM, BBA, RCML, AMATYC, TODOS, and SSMA leaders and organizational presidents for coming together as part of our Presidential Exchange Series to engage with our community related to Advocating for Transformative Change. 

 

 

As always, I am incredibly grateful to our dedicated, visionary and justice-oriented members and volunteer leaders that inform, engage and advocate with/for our teacher educators and broader mathematics education community. Special thanks to all our board members and our executive director Kim Gill who offer consistent wisdom, perspectives, and solutions for all our efforts. So excited about the brilliance and energy of our President-Elect Dr. Marrielle Myers and all the ways that through AMTE we will be Leading as a Diverse Community of Scholars Toward Strategic Collective Actions!

Farshid Safi, AMTE President