RECENT PROFESSIONAL POSITIONS
- CSU Fullerton, Department Chair, Secondary Education, 2022-present;
- Professor, Secondary Education (2014-present); Associate Professor (2009-2014); Assistant Professor (2005-2009)
- Department Chair, CSU Fullerton Secondary Education, 2009-2012
- Director at-large, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), 2011-2014
- Author, i-Ready Classroom Mathematics (Curriculum Associates)
- Certification Council, National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (2020-2023)
- Curriculum Vita mark_ellis_cv_05.2020.pdf
RESEARCH INTERESTS: Equity in mathematics education; Middle grades mathematics teaching methods; History of school mathematics practices in the United States
CREDENTIALS HELD: National Board Certified Teacher, Early Adolescence Mathematics (1999; renewed 2009 and 2019); California Teaching Credential, Mathematics
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: I taught mathematics in grades 6-12 in northern California public schools for six years, courses from 6th grade mathematics through Algebra II, and became a National Board Certified Teacher in Early Adolescence Mathematics in 1999. I also spent two years teaching in middle schools in Hyogo prefecture, Japan. I earned a Ph.D. in Education from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill in 2005 with an emphasis on mathematics education. At the university level I have taught mathematics methods, research in mathematics education, educational technology for mathematics teaching and learning, mathematics content for future elementary teachers, and an introduction to teaching course for secondary education students. I have been a Faculty Partner for the TASEL-M program with Orange Unified School District, an author for Professional Development Resources Online for Mathematics, and served on the editorial panel for a series of books from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Mathematics for Every Student: Responding to Diversity, focused on strategies for mathematics instruction that make meaningful learning accessible to diverse groups of students. I was elected in 2011 to a three-year term as a member of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Board of Directors. In 2017 NCTM published a book I co-authored with Cathery Yeh and Carolee Hurtado, Reimagining the Mathematics Classroom: Creating a Sustaining Productive Learning Environments, K-Grade 6. I was appointed to the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) Certification Council in 2019.
My publications have appeared in Mathematics Teacher, The Mathematics Educator, Teaching Children Mathematics, Professional School Counseling, Teachers College Record, Race, Ethnicity, and Education, Journal of Mathematical Behavior, Learning Environments Research, Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, and The High School Journal. Throughout my teaching career, I have been driven by a desire to create opportunities for all students, particularly those from groups historically underserved by traditional practices of schooling, to learn important mathematics concepts and skills. In my position at CSU Fullerton, these efforts are continued and extended through work with pre-service and experienced teachers of mathematics in southern California. Through work with the Foundational Level Mathematics teacher preparation program and the Masters of Science in Teaching Foundational Mathematics graduate program, I aim to both positively impact and continue to learn from the practices of teachers in mathematics classrooms.
In 2010 a six-year award of $2.5 million from the National Science Foundation allowed my colleagues Dr. Marty Bonsangue and Dr. Ruth Yopp-Edwards and me to develop mentor teachers in mathematics in Anaheim Union High School District and Norwalk La Mirada Unified School District who have been working with mathematics teacher candidates at CSU Fullerton to improve teaching in foundational-level mathematics courses. Visit the Fullerton Master Teachers and Mathematics Teachers project site to learn more.
In 2013 I received a three-year award of $1.5 million from the National Science Foundation together with colleagues Dr. Armando Martinez-Cruz, Dr. Natalie Tran, and Dr. Sam Behseta, to work with Anaheim Union High School District, Anaheim Elementary School District, and the Discovery Science Center to create a bilingual mathematics and science pathway for middle school students with an emphasis on culturally/community relevant learning. The goal of Transforming Academic and Cultural Identidad through Bilireracy (TACIB) was to improve students' understanding of and identity toward STEM fields. Visit the TACIB project website to learn more.
In 2017 my colleagues Dr. Marty Bonsangue and Dr. Ruth Yopp-Edwards and I were awarded a $2.8 million, five-year National Science Foundation grant for project Advancing Teachers of Mathematics to Advance Learning for All. We are working with 20 middle and early high school teachers of mathematics from Anaheim Union High School District, Norwalk La Mirada Unified School District as well as other high-need school districts in southern California to support their journey toward National Board Certification and developing expertise with culturally responsive mathematics teaching. These 20 Master Teaching Fellows are creating online, facilitated micro-credential modules to help other teachers of mathematics become proficient with specific instructional practices related to culturally responsive mathematics teaching.
CREDENTIALS HELD: National Board Certified Teacher, Early Adolescence Mathematics (1999; renewed 2009 and 2019); California Teaching Credential, Mathematics
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: I taught mathematics in grades 6-12 in northern California public schools for six years, courses from 6th grade mathematics through Algebra II, and became a National Board Certified Teacher in Early Adolescence Mathematics in 1999. I also spent two years teaching in middle schools in Hyogo prefecture, Japan. I earned a Ph.D. in Education from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill in 2005 with an emphasis on mathematics education. At the university level I have taught mathematics methods, research in mathematics education, educational technology for mathematics teaching and learning, mathematics content for future elementary teachers, and an introduction to teaching course for secondary education students. I have been a Faculty Partner for the TASEL-M program with Orange Unified School District, an author for Professional Development Resources Online for Mathematics, and served on the editorial panel for a series of books from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Mathematics for Every Student: Responding to Diversity, focused on strategies for mathematics instruction that make meaningful learning accessible to diverse groups of students. I was elected in 2011 to a three-year term as a member of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Board of Directors. In 2017 NCTM published a book I co-authored with Cathery Yeh and Carolee Hurtado, Reimagining the Mathematics Classroom: Creating a Sustaining Productive Learning Environments, K-Grade 6. I was appointed to the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) Certification Council in 2019.
My publications have appeared in Mathematics Teacher, The Mathematics Educator, Teaching Children Mathematics, Professional School Counseling, Teachers College Record, Race, Ethnicity, and Education, Journal of Mathematical Behavior, Learning Environments Research, Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, and The High School Journal. Throughout my teaching career, I have been driven by a desire to create opportunities for all students, particularly those from groups historically underserved by traditional practices of schooling, to learn important mathematics concepts and skills. In my position at CSU Fullerton, these efforts are continued and extended through work with pre-service and experienced teachers of mathematics in southern California. Through work with the Foundational Level Mathematics teacher preparation program and the Masters of Science in Teaching Foundational Mathematics graduate program, I aim to both positively impact and continue to learn from the practices of teachers in mathematics classrooms.
In 2010 a six-year award of $2.5 million from the National Science Foundation allowed my colleagues Dr. Marty Bonsangue and Dr. Ruth Yopp-Edwards and me to develop mentor teachers in mathematics in Anaheim Union High School District and Norwalk La Mirada Unified School District who have been working with mathematics teacher candidates at CSU Fullerton to improve teaching in foundational-level mathematics courses. Visit the Fullerton Master Teachers and Mathematics Teachers project site to learn more.
In 2013 I received a three-year award of $1.5 million from the National Science Foundation together with colleagues Dr. Armando Martinez-Cruz, Dr. Natalie Tran, and Dr. Sam Behseta, to work with Anaheim Union High School District, Anaheim Elementary School District, and the Discovery Science Center to create a bilingual mathematics and science pathway for middle school students with an emphasis on culturally/community relevant learning. The goal of Transforming Academic and Cultural Identidad through Bilireracy (TACIB) was to improve students' understanding of and identity toward STEM fields. Visit the TACIB project website to learn more.
In 2017 my colleagues Dr. Marty Bonsangue and Dr. Ruth Yopp-Edwards and I were awarded a $2.8 million, five-year National Science Foundation grant for project Advancing Teachers of Mathematics to Advance Learning for All. We are working with 20 middle and early high school teachers of mathematics from Anaheim Union High School District, Norwalk La Mirada Unified School District as well as other high-need school districts in southern California to support their journey toward National Board Certification and developing expertise with culturally responsive mathematics teaching. These 20 Master Teaching Fellows are creating online, facilitated micro-credential modules to help other teachers of mathematics become proficient with specific instructional practices related to culturally responsive mathematics teaching.