Our Team

Contact: ronaldb@uic.edu

Ron changed careers in the late 1990s and earned a master’s degree with K–8 teacher certification through the Teachers For Chicago program. He taught in Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and in the western suburbs for over two decades.  As a teacher, Ron combined his passion for equity and developing young mathematicians with his interest in fostering communities of adult learning by serving on curriculum, professional development, and school leadership committees. In 2009 he earned a second master’s degree at the Harvard Graduate School of Education in school leadership focusing on teacher leadership and instructional improvement through instructional rounds, Critical Friends Groups, and lesson study. Ron was excited to become a member of the MCMI team in 2022 to work with teachers on improving mathematics teaching and learning.

Contact: jfield2@uic.edu

Jenesis left the business world in 2002 and earned an alternative teaching certificate through the University of Illinois’ Middle Grades Mathematics program. She spent six years teaching 6th through 8th graders, with a majority of that time spent on mathematics, in Chicago Public Schools. The following three years was spent working with Carnegie Learning, Inc. as a coach in 8^th and 9^th grade classrooms. During this time, she earned a master’s degree in educational leadership from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

In August 2019 she returned to UIC, joining the LSRI team. Since she has been working to improve teaching and learning in K-8 grade classrooms.

Contact: ecape@uic.edu

Liz is a licensed elementary teacher with a special interest in instructional practices that strengthen the teaching and learning of mathematics. She worked for the Learning Sciences Research Institute as a lead author for the Teaching Integrated Math and Science (TIMS) Project’s 4th edition of Math Trailblazers. Liz currently spends her summers as an International Facilitation Fellow for the University of Texas at Austin’s Charles A. Dana Center, facilitating professional development seminars to DoDEA teachers on standards-based math instruction. In addition, she runs an innovative math center where she provides small group instruction to support and challenge students.

Contact: dsoffe2@uic.edu

Deena is passionate about teaching and learning in mathematics, and providing high-quality instruction that is accessible and rigorous for all learners. After graduating from Teachers College, Columbia University with a master’s degrees in Math Education and Deaf and Hard of Hearing Education, Deena moved to Chicago to teach math to Deaf and Hard of Hearing learners in Chicago Public Schools. As she pursued a doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), she worked on three research projects focused on math curriculum and instruction.  After earning her PhD, she taught in the Special Education and Teacher Education departments at Northeastern Illinois University. At the same time, she worked as a math specialist and consultant. Deena was thrilled to return to UIC in 2023 to work with the incredible MCMI team.

Contact: rgjoseph@uic.edu

After beginning his career as a mechanical and software engineer, Gabe shifted gears to become a National Board certified teacher. As a middle school mathematics and STEM teacher, Gabe enjoyed sharing his engineering knowledge and experiences with his students. He believes that the most important change that needs to be made in mathematics education revolves around equity. In joining the MCMI team, Gabe hopes to remain involved in and help further contribute to the advancement of instructional growth in our learning community.

Contact: jleimb1@uic.edu

Jennifer serves as an instructional coach and professional development leader for a variety of projects. She began her career teaching elementary and middle school students in Chicago Public Schools. On her quest to provide high-quality learning environments for her students, found herself collaborating on the development of NSF-Funded science and mathematics tools at Northwestern University, Georgia Tech University and the University of Illinois at Chicago. She has a passion for helping teachers create productive and innovative learning environments that promote strategic, conceptual, and quantitative reasoning.

Contact: fjafri2@uic.edu

Farah has always had a passion for learning and teaching mathematics. Prior to joining the MCMI team, she taught mathematics to middle school students for ten years in the Chicago Public Schools. Alongside teaching, Farah led professional development for teachers across the school district to support them in implementing best practices of teaching mathematics. Throughout her career, Farah has continued to pursue degrees and certifications in mathematics education. Farah draws from her experiences as a teacher and lifelong learner of mathematics to support other educators in fostering a love of mathematics in their students.

Contact: jmcglynn@uic.edu

Jackie Palmquist has served as a high school math teacher, math department chair, and district math consultant at Indian Prairie School District 204 for 34 years. With a passion for teaching and leading, she ensures that ALL students have access to high-quality math education. She volunteers, presents, and leads with local, state, and national math organizations. In her 3 years as Director of Professional Learning for NCSM, the premier mathematics leadership organization, Jackie has led events focused on leading through a lens of equity and social justice in mathematics teaching as well as building leadership through math coaches. She also presents both locally and nationally on the benefits of Number Talk routines for all learners. Jackie is also a contributing author on the recently released NCSM Publication Culturally Relevant Leadership in Mathematics Education, 2022; an author on the pending release of Empathetic Storytelling; as well as the creator and publisher of her own Number Talks for High School Flip Book Series.

Contact: sutow@uic.edu

Jean has been a part of the LSRI community since 2012, when she joined the Teaching Integrated Math and Science (TIMS) Project as an editor for the 4th edition of Math Trailblazers. She is a certified English secondary education and special education teacher with six years of experience teaching high school writing and English.

Contact: wertz@uic.edu

Melanie Wertz has had an unabated love for mathematics since early childhood. She completed her B.A. in Mathematics at Swarthmore College before the tech boom drew her into a lengthy career in corporate IT. When volunteering at a youth center revealed her interest in helping young people love math, she decided to become a teacher. Through a Math for America fellowship, she obtained her master’s degree at Teachers College, Columbia University and went on to teach both middle school and high school mathematics in New York City public schools. She joined the UIC team in 2011.

Contact: nzandnia@uic.edu

Lily serves as an instructional coach and professional development leader for a variety of projects. She began her career teaching middle school math in Chicago Public Schools and then went on to be the middle school math specialist for the district for four years, where she supported middle school teachers across the entire city. Before joining the MCMI team, she was the Assistant Director of Curriculum and Instruction for Palatine CCSD15 where she supported the pilot and adoption of a new math and science curriculum.

Through these different roles, her passion for supporting students and teachers to develop a love of mathematics has come through and she looks forward to continuing that work in this role at MCMI.

Contact: jbaker@uic.edu

Joanne has been a Senior Coach for SCMI and WCMI since 2010, but she has worked to support teachers and districts in improving the teaching and learning of high-quality mathematics for many years before that. Starting in 1996, Joanne was a coach for UIC’s All Learn Mathematics Project (ALM), where she supported teachers of grades K–8 in Chicago and the suburbs, in their classrooms and by facilitating professional development. In 2002, she also began mentoring and supporting early-career teachers in UIC’s Middle Grade Mathematics (MGM) Alternative Certification Program, and from 2004 to 2006, she co-directed MGM. From 2006 to 2010, she supported Chicago Public Schools teachers in the Cluster 4 Middle Grade Project (C4MGP). She has also guided and supported teachers in pursuing mathematics endorsements. She received her own Master of Science in Teaching Mathematics from UIC, and was an elementary and middle school mathematics teacher.

Retired

Marty was the founding director of the Suburban Cook County Mathematics Initiative and continues to serve on the project’s management team. From 2011 through June 2016, he served as Executive Director of the University of Chicago’s Center for Elementary Mathematics and Science Education (CEMSE), where he currently is a Senior Associate. He previously served as Assistant Vice Chancellor and Executive Director for High School Development at UIC and as Associate Director of UIC’s Institute for Mathematics and Science Education (IMSE), which he co-founded with mathematician Philip Wagreich and physicist Howard Goldberg. From 2002 to 2006, he served as the Chief Mathematics and Science Officer of Chicago Public Schools, where he directed the Chicago Math and Science Initiative, the district’s highly touted mathematics and science improvement effort. Marty has developed and served in senior and advisory roles with numerous projects and organizations in mathematics and science education. He began his career at Benito Juarez High School in Chicago, where he taught biology and directed the school’s bilingual program.

Contact: mpligge@uic.edu

Margie works passionately to promote high-quality mathematics teaching and learning. In addition to coaching, Margie directs professional development experiences for K–5 teachers. She began her career teaching high school and college mathematics, and has led professional development across the nation for over 40 years. As a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin, she worked closely with the Cognitively Guided Instruction research team, exploring early algebra and number and operations, including fraction understanding, and was a member of an international research and development team designing, implementing, and revising a NSF-funded middle grades mathematics curriculum.

Retired

Regeta became part of the UIC BSF team in September 2015. Prior to joining the team, she worked at the University of Illinois at Chicago in the Department of Mathematics Education as a field supervisor for secondary mathematics student teachers, and teaching middle school methods courses, which included Algebra Initiative course for CPS teachers. In addition, she has worked on the Algebra Intensification project that addresses struggling students in 9^th grade algebra. Her passion for teaching began in Chicago Public Schools as a high school mathematics teacher, department chair, assistant principal, and lastly serving as Director of Mathematics for Chicago Public Schools in the Office of Mathematics and Science during the implementation of the Chicago Math and Science Initiative (CMSI) in 2003.

Contact: mjtav@uic.edu

As Project Director, Mary Jo was responsible for strategic planning, project management and leadership to support the collaboration and improvement of mathematics teaching and learning in over 30 districts and in Big Shoulders Fund Catholic schools. Previously, Mary Jo served as the Director of Mathematics for the Chicago Public Schools (CPS), providing direction and support for mathematics across the district, co-directed UIC’s All Learn Mathematics Project, providing professional development and support in Chicago and the suburbs, and co-directed the UIC Middle Grade Mathematics Alternative Certification Program, designed to meet the need for highly qualified middle grade mathematics teachers in Chicago Public Schools. She has facilitated professional development for district leaders, administrators, and teachers, and presented at numerous conferences around the country. She was awarded the first Philip Wagreich Award for achievements in advancing STEM education. She is a former middle grade mathematics teacher.

Retired

A successful educator for over thirty years, Kitty has been part of the UIC team since 2012. Her classroom success and enthusiasm as a mathematics and science coach, have helped her support teachers in Pittsburgh, Chicago, and multiple other districts. She has a passion for supporting teachers and is always amazed at the mathematics that young kids are able to do. When you meet Kitty, she’ll likely share some photos of student work from the classrooms she supports.