An assistant professor of mathematics education at The University of Texas at Arlington has been accepted into the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators' (AMTE) Service, Teaching and Research (STaR) program for early career mathematics educators working in higher education.
Candace Joswick started as a math teacher for K-12, which sparked a passion for research in mathematics education practices and policies that influence the classroom.
"I knew that staying in a K-12 classroom was not where the most impact would be for me," she said. "If I could help two teachers with 150 kids a year, then the impact balloons. And if I can give a professional development to 25 teachers, then what can happen tomorrow in class for all the 150 kids of each of those 25 teachers?
"That's what keeps me going: investing in teachers, supporting K-12 children and seeing incremental, positive change."
The STaR Fellows program originated with a grant from the National Science Foundation and is hosted by AMTE as a mentoring program. AMTE supports a network of early career mathematics educators who help prepare math teachers for grades K-12.
"I am delighted to learn of Dr. Joswick's acceptance as a STaR Fellow," said Teresa Taber Doughty, dean of the College of Education. "This is a very competitive program that will lead to research and networking opportunities in the mathematics education field. Her acceptance as a fellow is reflective of the high-quality work she has done to date and her future trajectory in this academic area."
The program offers fellows a summer 2020 institute, networking through the academic year and a follow-up session in conjunction with the AMTE annual meeting in February 2021.
"I'm very much looking forward to sharing all of the exciting things happening in mathematics education here at UTA with new colleagues in this induction program," Joswick said. "I believe everyone can be good at math. We just need to think deeply about what it is that students need to know and understand, and then give them the right opportunity for success."
