 Marilyn Burns, founder of Math Solutions, is one of today’s most highly respected mathematics educators. For more than 40 years, Marilyn has taught children, led professional development sessions, spoken at educational conferences nationwide, written children’s books, and created mathematics resources for teachers and administrators.
In 1984, Marilyn formed Math Solutions Professional Development, an organization dedicated to the improvement of math instruction in grades K–8. Working with a highly qualified team of inservice leaders, Marilyn offered courses to teachers and administrators nationwide designed to improve math instruction and student learning.
Soon after, Marilyn began writing and publishing to further support teachers and provide districts with resources needed to implement in-depth and long-lasting change in their schools. She has written 22 professional books for teachers, including About Teaching Mathematics, Math and Literature, Writing in Math Class, Teaching Arithmetic, Lessons for Algebraic Thinking, Math: Facing an American Phobia, and more. Marilyn’s professional articles have appeared in Educational Leadership, Kappan, The Journal of the National Staff Development Council, and Instructor. Also, she has developed several series of videotapes of classroom teaching that model effective instructional strategies.
Marilyn also brings her messages directly to children. She is the author of more than ten books for children, including the best-selling The I Hate Mathematics! Book and The Greedy Triangle.
In 1996, Marilyn Burns received the Glenn Gilbert National Leadership Award from the National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics for her influence on mathematics education. The nominators took special note of Marilyn's humor and compassion, saying:
Few professionals have touched and inspired so many math educators. She has taught us several important lessons. . . . We must treat teachers with respect, honesty, and a thoughtful vision. We must turn to student work to make sense of student understanding and achievement.
In 1997, Marilyn received the Louise Hay Award for Contributions to Mathematics Education from the Association for Women in Mathematics.
In collaboration with Scholastic in 2007, Marilyn developed Do The Math®, an intervention program designed for grades 2 through 8. Do The Math focuses on Number and Operations and targets addition and subtraction, multiplication, division, and fractions.
Marilyn continues to teach in classrooms and relies on these experiences to inform her writing and speaking. She currently is developing individual student interviews for assessing students’ arithmetic understanding and skills. |
