Research to Practice: What Works? Exploring Effective Mathematics Interventions
Currey Ingram Academy
On-Campus & Virtual Session
Wednesday, March 4, 2026 6-8 p.m. CST
Presentation for all On-Campus & Virtual Attendees
6-7 p.m. CST
Workshop for On-Campus Attendees
7-8 p.m. CST
Dr. Karen Karp and Dr. Dawn Pilotti will open with a one-hour presentation focused on the proactive mathematics interventions that prime students for success in grade-level or course-level mathematics lessons. The effective teaching of mathematics through understanding how students learn, how to promote that learning by teaching through problem solving, and how to collaboratively plan for that learning will be central to the conversation. Using the research-based recommendations from the IES Practice Guides, this session helps build instruction that actively engages students in “doing math”.
Following the one-hour professional presentation, a hands-on workshop
will be provided for those attending in person.
On-campus registration available for 30 attendees.
Professor Emerita of Mathematics Education, University of Louisville
Karen Karp is a mathematics educator who focuses on the intersection of mathematics education and special education. She was previously a professor at Johns Hopkins University and a distinguished teaching professor of elementary mathematics education at the University of Louisville in Kentucky where she is professor emerita. She is the author or co-author of numerous book chapters, articles, and books, including the U.S. Department of Education Institute of Science’s What Works Clearinghouse Practice Guide on Assisting Students Struggling with Mathematics: Intervention in the Elementary Grades, and other titles such as Strengths-based Teaching and Learning in Mathematics, The Math Pact, and Elementary and Middle School Mathematics: Teaching Developmentally which has been translated into seven languages. Her latest co-authored book, Proactive Mathematics Interventions: Priming for Success was just published.
Karen is a former member of the board of directors of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) and a former president of the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators. In 2020, she was selected for the NCTM Lifetime Achievement Award for Distinguished Service to Mathematics Education. She represented the United States as the Chair of Topic Study Group on Teaching Mathematics to Students with Special Needs at the 2024 International Congress on Mathematical Education in Australia. She holds teaching/administrative certifications in elementary education, secondary mathematics, K-12 special education, and K-12 educational administration.
Dawn M. Pilotti, EdD
McRae Family Foundation Chair of Mathematics, Currey Ingram Academy
Dawn Pilotti is the McRae Family Foundation JK-12 Faculty Chair of Mathematics and a Mathematics Specialist at the Currey Ingram Academy in Brentwood, Tennessee which is a school for students with learning differences. She has more than 25 years of experience holding teaching certifications in 6-12 secondary mathematics, K-12 comprehensive special education, and K-12 intervention. Dawn earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics from Fairfield University (CT), a Master of Arts degree from New York University, certification for Mathematics Specialist from the University of Wisconsin, and a doctorate in Educational Practice and Innovation with a concentration in STEM Education from the University of South Carolina. She has written interdisciplinary curriculum for local, national, and international organizations such as the National Park Service and the Acropolis Museum, and is a co-author on Proactive Mathematics Interventions: Priming for Success, Grades 6-8 and Grades 9-12 (in press).
Dawn was selected as the 2012 Tim Russert Make a Difference Educator of the Year from The Inner-City Foundation. She is a 2024 recipient of a Mathematics Education Trust grant for her work with students with learning differences and their teachers. She currently serves on the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Content and Learning Advisory Committee, the NCTM New Orleans Conference Committee, and as the National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics (NCSM) Regional Team Lead-Tennessee. Her scholarly and practitioner interests lie in the intersection of mathematics education and special education and in supporting teachers to improve learning outcomes for typically underserved student populations.
