Foreword

We are very excited to share Guidelines for Preparing and Supporting Elementary Mathematics Specialists, the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators’ (AMTE) most updated document that highlights the importance of these professionals and their specialized preparation. This document continues and expands recommendations from Standards for Elementary Mathematics Specialists: A Reference for Teacher Credentialing and Degree Programs, first published in 2009 and last updated in 2013. Advocating for effective mathematics teacher education is central to the mission of AMTE. For example, AMTE’s new long-term goals for 2024-2028 include Goal 2, “support and provide guidance on the high-quality preparation, recruitment, retention, and diversification of mathematics teachers across the variety of educational spaces”. This new document provides a way to enact this long-term goal. Preparing mathematics teachers, teacher leaders, and coaches at all levels, especially PK-6, is a critical need and the original 2009 document was designed to inform ways to effectively prepare Elementary Mathematics Specialists. In 2013, a revised version was published to reflect recommendations from the Conference Board of Mathematical Sciences’ The Mathematical Education of Teachers II (2010), the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics’ Elementary Mathematics Specialist Standards (2012), as well as the Common Core State Standards - Mathematics (2010). This current document reflects the research produced since the publication of the first standards and recommendations from AMTE’s Standards for Preparing Teachers of Mathematics (2017). It also includes descriptions, examples, and vignettes to make the intentions of the guidelines come alive. 

In 2022, AMTE, along with ASSM, NCSM, and NCTM, published an updated joint position statement about the role of Elementary Mathematics Specialists (EMSs), which affirmed a collective commitment to using these professionals in PK-6 environments to enhance the planning, teaching, learning, and assessment of mathematics. The preparation of the position statement highlighted the need for updating the Standards for Elementary Mathematics Specialists: A Reference for Teacher Credentialing and Degree Programs (AMTE, 2013) to address emergent issues related to technology and equity, AMTE’s Standards for Preparing Teachers of Mathematics (2017), and current research. Thus, an EMS Standards Task Force was established to complete this challenging work, which is shown below. 

Co-chair:  Nicole Rigelman, Portland State University and The Math Learning Center

Co-chair:  Susan Swars Auslander, The University of Alabama

Skip Fennell, McDaniel College

Marta Garcia, Mt. Holyoke and TERC

Nick Johnson, San Diego State University

Latrenda Knighten, East Baton Rouge Parish School System

Stefanie Livers, Bowling Green State University

Kate Roscioli, George Mason University and Prince William County Public Schools 

AMTE would like to thank the chairs who led this important task force and the members who supported the development of these important updated and expanded guidelines. The chairs and members dedicated countless hours and energy to produce this important document because they recognize its importance. AMTE also thanks invited reviewers and AMTE members who provided feedback on a draft of this document. 

We hope that you find this document useful for informing, advocating, and revising practices, structures, and policies regarding Elementary Mathematics Specialists. May this document foster change that further informs and advances mathematical teaching and learning.

Enrique Galindo, AMTE President 2023-2025 

Megan Burton, AMTE President 2021-2023