Jeremy Zelkowski

CURRENT RESEARCH AND GRANT PROJECTS

• Alabama’s Practitioner Leaders in Underserved Schools for Mathematics (A-PLUS in Math): A National Science Foundation Robert F Noyce Master Teaching Fellowship
  • Just funded in 2019, we have launched a website dedicated to this $2.84M grant project.  
  • http://aplusinmath.ua.edu
• Project IMPACT – Improving Mathematical Practices of Alabama Classroom Teachers
  • This project was funded (see CV page) for three years to work with secondary mathematics teachers when new Alabama Mathematics Standards were implemented in 2012.  
  • Results from this project included the development and validity of the MCOP2 as a national instrument for evaluation and research related to the mathematical practice standards.
  • 24 teachers completed three years of PD and subsequently many are supervisors/cooperating teachers of our preservice teachers.
  • Teacher content knowledge improved, facilitation of mathematical practices improved, and student engagement in the practices improved.
  • This project ended in 2015.
• UA Noyce Scholars Program
  • Funded by NSF, this five year project resulted in awarding 18 (to date) of 23 scholarships for prospective teachers to earn a teaching certification in mathematics.  
  • Given the strength of the SEMA program, previous students and current students aided the Noyce summer internships to help recruit interested candidates into the program.  
  • This project has resulted in two innovative programs being created, including a dual certification in math/physics for grades 6-12 and an accelerated master’s program for advanced students in mathematics.  
  • While this project is still ongoing, an online induction support course for graduate scholars will endure through 2021 as part of the early career teacher support.
  • Scholarships were last offered in 2018 and the grant ends September 2019.  Induction support will continue into 2021.
• Creating a Pathway for Secondary Mathematics Education Pre-Service Teachers to include Computer Science Principles in their Teaching
  • Funded by NSF, this two year project represents an opportunity for SEMA students to elect to enroll in an additional pedagogy course focused on teaching AP Computer Science Principles. 
  • While this is not required in the SEMA program, the grant supports teacher candidates who elect to participate.  71% of the 2018 graduates who will begin teaching fall 2018 in schools elected to participate. 
  • We anticipate this project developing the course very well, as well as providing Alabama and beyond, mathematics teachers who can advocate for the AP CSP course in their high schools, but even teach such a course.  At the middle grades level, adding the exploring course ECS is also possible.
  • Overall, the project will produce equitable opportunities for 6-12 students to have opportunities to enroll in CS offerings otherwise schools may not have the ability to offer.
  • This project ends September 2020 but the sequence course is intended to continue permanently. 
  • Project website: ​https://sema4cs.ua.edu/
• National Mathematics Teacher Education Partnership – UA’s Western Alabama Regional Partnership
  •  on MTEP The University of Alabama’s team comprised of Drs. Jeremy Zelkowski, Jim Gleason, Martha Makowski, and joining the team fall 2020 will be Casedy Thomas.  Partnered with Tuscaloosa City and County Schools, we have engaged in a multi-year project to transform our secondary mathematics teacher preparation program.  UA is one of the leading programs to have transformed nationally, but we still have on-going work planned the next five years.
  • Dr. Zelkowski is currently leading the Methods-Clinical Experiences Research Action Cluster (RAC) in the national partnership, working towards the development, refinement, and publishing of three modules to integrate into programs for methods instructors, preservice teachers, and cooperating mentor teachers towards one unified vision through activities to engage teacher candidates with mentor teachers. Information and access to these modules is available here: https://cerac-methods.ua.edu/
  • For more MTEP information, please see the MTEP national website.
  • 2016 MTEP Proceedings
  • 2017 MTEP Proceedings
  • 2018 MTEP Proceedings
  • 2019 MTEP Proceedings
  • 2020 MTEP Proceedings
• Measurement in Mathematics Education​
  • One would think measurement in mathematics education is a sound field.  However, many of our top-tier research journals do not publish or consider publishing the development and validation studies of instrumentation.  This has forced the field in my opinion to more qualitative inquiry methods due to the lack of quantitative tools researchers can use.  Seeing this gap and need, we have developed two nationally validate instruments specifically designed to fill gaps in the field.
  • The MCOP2 was developed for Project IMPACT and presents a national validated instrument that is open-resource for research and evaluation (see CV for publications).
  • The TPACK for secondary mathematics education preservice teachers survey was designed around program need in assessing teacher beliefs about content, pedagogy, and technology (see CV for publications).
  • Recently, a group of 40 national scholars begin working validity evidence and instrumentation in mathematics education.  I have been invited and accepted a leadership role for the Teacher Education instrument strand with VM2ED.
• Programmatic Design in Mathematics Teacher Education
  • In 2008, I arrived at UA to a teacher preparation program with some low Praxis math scores and very primitive mathematics teaching beliefs by preservice teachers.  In my first class, 90% of preservice teachers said they did not use a graphing calculator at ALL in high school mathematics.  Immediately, a research need was developed specifically to fuel the program evaluation and research.  By 2011, the TPACK instrument was underway, a new capstone course created by Dr. Jim Gleason (mathematics), and three sequenced math teaching methods curses and clinical experiences began to take shape.  In 2012, we launched a six-year research project on the effect sizes of program design, components, and assessments on external licensure exams (edTPA, Praxis II).  This paper is under review in JRME.
  • Multiple publications (see CV) have stemmed from our partnership team in the APLU’s MTEP, including publications on programmatic analysis and impact on high stakes examinations.
  • ​As part of the ongoing programmatic evaluation, research has developed that is supported in the literature and strengthens the field’s knowledge to improve program design and teacher candidate knowledge and ability.
• Mathematical College-readiness: Policy & Practice
  • When I began my research as a doctoral student, my experiences of teaching high school mathematics and college mathematics set the stage for examining policy and practice about getting students ready for college, mathematically speaking.  While I continue to read the literature, my research agenda has shifted to almost exclusively to these two areas to the left on this page. Some of my early career work helped distinguish the differences between college-ready and college-eligible, whether block-scheduling or period-scheduling is more appropriate preparing students for college, and the best enrollment factors/patterns for taking mathematics classes to maximize readiness and completion of bachelor’s degrees.
  • Overall, this was a very early passion of my research agenda as it was very pressing on research questions I wanted to learn about given my teaching.  Now, those research questions are directly related to my current teaching and national impact on mathematics teacher education.
• Studying Computer Science and Mathematics Education Integration in Schools and Teacher Preparation
  • Recently, through an USDOE funded $4M grant with the UA Computer Science Dept and Alabama State Department of Education, a large look at integrating Bootstrap into Algebra will begin statewide in 2020.
  • We finished a 3-year pilot study funded by NSF dually certifying our SEMA teacher candidates in Math plus Computer Science.  It has led to a six institution partnership with JSU, ASU, USA, UAB, UAH, and UA in Alabama in which any secondary teacher candidate can add-on CS teaching endorsement through our NSF grant.

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS / ACTIVITIES

• Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators
  • Annual conference past chair, 2023-24
  • Annual conference program chair, 2022-23
  • Annual conference incoming chair, 2021-22
  • Annual conference program committee member 2018-21
  • STaR (Service, Teaching, and Research) advisory board 2015-18
• National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
  • Chair – Affiliate Relations Committee 2016-17
  • Vice Chair – Membership & Affiliate Relations Committee 2017-18
  • Member – ARC 2015-16, MARC 2018-19
  • Reviewer for JRME
  • Reviewer for MT & MTMS
  • Reviewer for MTE
  • 2019 Regional Conference (Nashville) program committee member
  • NCTM Advocacy Conference 2015 – invited
• T3 – Teachers Teaching with Technology
  • National Instructor (2014 – present)
  • Regional Instructor (2011 – 2014)
• Alabama State Department of Education
  • Co-Chair, Lead Writer, 2017 Mathematics Strategic Planning Committee (State Superintendent’s appointment)
• ​Alabama Council of Teachers of Mathematics: ACTM
  • Webmaster: 2018-24
  • President & Annual Conference Chair: 2014-16
  • Vice-President & program chair: 2012-14
  • Immediate Past-President: 2016-18
  • Government Relations Officer: 2010-12
• Alabama T3 Instructor
  • Host annual summer workshops to train teachers on TI-Nspire technology use in mathematics classrooms
    • 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015
  • Host summer STEM training for perspective STEM teachers
    • 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
• Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators of Alabama: AMTEA
  • Treasurer 2011-2024; Seven 2yr terms
  • Founding Board member 2009-10
• The University of Alabama
  • SEMA Teacher Education Program NCTM SPA accreditation data compiler and report filer: 2014-16, 2021-23, ongoing for future review
  • Information Technology Committee: 2012-15
  • University Benefits Committee: 2015-18
  • Merger & Discontinuance Committee: 2019-22
  • Campus Master Plan Committee: 2022-24
• The College of Education
  • Academic Issues Committee 2013-16
    • Chair, fall 2015
  • Faculty research & development committee
    • 2008-2013
  • Communications ad-hoc committee
    • 2009-10
• Department of Curriculum & Instruction
  • Faculty Search Committee Chair
    • 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15, 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20
  • SEMA Program Coordinator

TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

My teaching philosophy is centered on building a community of learners whether preservice or inservice teachers, leveraging the cohort model, providing high-quality assessment feedback with validity evidence, and affording individuals opportunities for professional growth among their peers. I am a former high school mathematics teacher and college mathematics senior lecturer

BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Jeremy Zelkowski, associate professor of secondary mathematics education, received his Ph.D. in Mathematics Education from Ohio University in 2008.  He joined The University of Alabama in August 2008 to direct the undergraduate and graduate programs in secondary mathematics teacher education. Since joining UA, his scholarship has focused on the programmatic design in mathematics teacher education, measurement and validity evidence, and mathematical college-readiness policy and practice. Prior to joining the UA faculty, he taught high school mathematics in Louisiana beginning in 1999. Four years later in 2003, he began teaching math full time as a senior lecturer of mathematics at the college level at his alma mater West Virginia University. During his first year at WVU, he applied to the NSF-funded ACCLAIM doctoral Ph.D. program and started the summer of 2004. He taught full-time while finishing his Ph.D. program.  His work is strongly represented by a partnership with faculty in the Mathematics Department at UA, along with Computer Science faculty, as well as his regional and national partnership projects such as—The Validity Evidence for Measurement in Mathematics Education (VM2ED); The Mathematics Teacher Education Partnership (MTEP); The Clinical Experiences Research Action Cluster (CERAC); Secondary Education for Alabama Computer Science (SEED4ALCS). His students usually are heard referring to Dr. Zelkowski as “Dr. Z”.