Program Director: Brenda Strassfeld
Address: East Building, 637
239 Greene Street
New York, NY 10003-6647
Phone: 212-998-5200

Teaching the Power of Mathematics

Mathematics is a universal tool applied by scientists, businesspeople, engineers, and others around the world as they tackle the exciting challenges of the 21st century. Mathematics also helps us all with the increasing complexities of daily living-family budgets, insurance and mortgages, tax returns, and investment and retirement funds. With the challenges of the new century both at home and abroad, the demand for outstanding mathematics teachers in our schools has become critical.


Focus on State-of-the-Art Methods

In the Bachelor of Science Program in Teaching Mathematics, Grades 7-12, in the Department of Teaching and Learning, our goal is to prepare teachers who can help their students think critically about their teaching and devise ways to improve mathematics education. We focus on current developments in mathematics teaching nationwide and keep the program up-to-date by integrating into our curriculum recommendations from teaching organizations and national commissions. We address issues of ethnicity and gender in mathematics education and work with students to develop strategies to help underrepresented minorities and females surmount learning barriers.


Faculty on the Cutting Edge

Our faculty is involved in cutting edge research and development projects and represent the university and program on national and international commissions. The core faculty in the program include:

Anne Burgunder - Master Teacher in Mathematics Education

Karen D. King - Associate Professor of Mathematics Education
Karen Sharif-McLeod - Master Teacher in Mathematics Education
Brenda Strassfeld - Master Teacher in Mathematics Education

A Variety of Resources

You take liberal arts as well as mathematics and computer science courses in the College of Arts and Science. Courses in teaching methods and curriculum development are taken in The Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. Special resources available to you include NYU's internationally renowned Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences and the University's numerous microcomputer centers.


Small Program, Personal Contact

As a student in mathematics education, you are part of a small program. You have daily contact with the full-time faculty, as well as with a diverse range of students preparing to teach other secondary school subjects.


Your Teaching Internship

In your junior year, you start your internship preparation by visiting schools and observing practicing teachers in the classroom. In your senior year, you have two semesters of student teaching in a public middle school and a public high school affiliated with our program, under the supervision of experienced mathematics teachers and our own faculty.

Student Activities

You are encouraged to become a student member of the Association of Teachers of Mathematics of New York City and the Association of Mathematics Teachers of New York State, as well as the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. These organizations hold many conferences where students meet current teachers and learn about important issues in classroom instruction. Students also receive professional newsletters, journals, and other publications that keep them apprised of research and educational issues.


Helping You Start Your Career

Our faculty has extensive contacts in the field that lead to information about job openings, and our graduates continually call for recommendations to fill vacancies. Student teaching placements often lead to full-time employment after graduation.


Career Opportunities

Prospects for mathematics teachers in the secondary schools are excellent in the next decade as the demand grows for increased student proficiency in mathematics. Retirement patterns also promise that the demand for mathematics teachers will be even stronger later in the decade.

The Program in Teaching Mathematics prepares you for teaching mathematics to students in grades 7 through 12. To qualify for provisional or initial certification in New York and most other states, you take the New York State Teacher Certification Examinations after graduation. While teaching, many of our graduates pursue a master's degree that enables them to become mathematics specialists in a school district, managers of mathematics programs, and assistant principals in charge of mathematics curriculum.

Examples of mathematics teaching positions in New York obtained by our graduates include the following:
• Manhattan Center for Science and Mathematics
• Manhattan Comprehensive Night and Day High School
• Baruch College High School

Other graduates have put their mathematics and teaching skills to use in business, industry, science, and government agencies.