On Feb. 5 and 6, Emporia State mathematics education students traveled to the Kansas City Convention Center in Kansas City, Mo. to attend the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Spring Conference. 

The NCTM is ‘the world’s largest mathematics education organization” according to their website with a mission of advocating for “high-quality mathematics teaching and learning for each and every student.” 

Mathematics instructor Dana Hess says the NCTM conference benefits future math educators in many ways, such as learning about “what other educators are doing that is working or not working, new technology and how to use it in the classroom, and new activities to use in your classroom.” She says that it was a great way to meet new people from all over the world and learn about their perspectives.

Five students from ESU attended two days of the three-day conference that included presentations, workshops and professional development for all areas and all age ranges of mathematics education. Events focused on innovating math education to make it engaging, personalized and relevant for all students.

Junior mathematics education major Jordyn Schnell said that she met representatives from well-known education platforms, such as Desmos and NumWork, who provided educational information, games and prizes, and free swag. Her favorite part of the trip was attending a session called “What is Algebra II and Why is it Important?” presented by Michigan State University educator Gail Burrill. 

“Based on the name, you would think Dr. Burrill would have provided information on different teaching methods for Algebra II,” Schnell said, “but instead, she talked about what content changes need to be made for the class to be beneficial. This will apply to my career as algebra is the main content I want to teach. With this information from Dr. Burrill, I can be more focused on what is the most important to teach.”

The trip to the NCTM Spring Conference was sponsored by Emporia State’s new SMaRT KS 21 grant. SMaRT KS 21 stands for Science and Math Recruitment of Teachers in Kansas for the 21st Century and is a $500,000 grant from the Kansas Legislature. Dr. Kimberly Ideus is the coordinator for the grant.

“… There was this issue that we don’t have enough math and science teachers,” explained Ideus, “and we needed to address it.” The Dean and Interim Assistant Dean of the School of Science and Mathematics, Tim Burnett and Richard Sleezer, wrote the bill for this grant roughly five years ago, but it was only in the summer of 2023 that the bill was approved. The grant is unique to Emporia State and, according to Ideus, does not have many stipulations of use, giving the School of Science and Mathematics “the latitude to really impact students through scholarships and other support.”

A portion of the half a million dollars funds scholarships for students earning their Bachelor of Science in Education in math or science, elementary education students with the math or science add-on, or teachers in a mathematics graduate program. This year, these scholarships started at $3,000 but varied from student to student and depended on their grade classification, financial need determined by federal aid, ACT scores and GPA. Further, students in their student teaching semester received $11,000 from the grant’s funds. 

The SMaRT KS 21 funds also cover other expenses associated with math and science education, such as conferences like NCTM, professional development events, supplies and activities for student teaching, and the PRAXIS exam, which is required for teacher licensure. Ideus says the grant allows students to “focus on becoming a great teacher” rather than working one or more jobs while also trying to practice teaching.

As this school year is her first year working at ESU, Ideus is looking forward to the future that the SMaRT KS 21 grant brings to ESU and the future of teaching in Kansas.

“This year has been a lot about, like, figuring out where all the current students are at in their programs and making progress toward getting their teaching licensure,” said Ideus. “And then, how can we recruit for incoming students and really build our math ed and science ed cohorts…  and just really help people who would be passionate about (teaching)?”