By Sarah Hartman, MTEP 2.0 Research Hub member, and Meghan Leadabrand, MTEP 2.0 project co-manager
The 2026 MTEP Conference, held in conjunction with the Thirtieth Annual Conference of the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (AMTE), took place Feb. 4 and 7 in Portland, Oregon and online. The conference included a hybrid pre-conference session, co-hosted by ESTEEM: Enhancing Data Science and Statistics Teacher Education with E-Modules, as well as an in-person networking breakfast at the AMTE Conference.
Wednesday, Feb. 4 marked the MTEP & ESTEEM Pre-Conference to AMTE 2026, attended by 77 participants (63 in person and 14 virtual. One major goal of the pre-conference was to investigate how MTEP and ESTEEM overlap, connect and could collaborate to advance the preparation of secondary mathematics teachers, possibly through data science efforts.
The ESTEEM group is working to transform data science and statistics teacher education with three primary goals: to learn about what is currently happening in teacher preparation, leverage the NIC design and disseminate curricular materials to advance the teaching of data science. Similarly, MTEP works to improve secondary teacher education and facilitates the NIC design in partnership with institutions. Ultimately, MTEP is focused on merging asset-based practice through a focus on local team improvement and alignment with the AMTE Standards for Preparing Teachers of Mathematics. The MTEP & ESTEEM Pre-Conference explored these similarities through a series of sessions, a panel, ignite talks and multiple research-based talks from NICs.
The morning sessions covered a variety of information about statistics and data science education and mathematics education. To kick off the pre-conference, Hollylynne Lee (North Carolina State University) discussed getting teachers engaged with data, emphasizing the need to investigate how to build pre-service teacher fluency in teaching data science. Then, Gemma Mojica (North Carolina State University) and Rick Hudson (University of Southern Indiana) presented on the state of statistics and data science in K-12 education.
The morning concluded with a panel of MTEP 2.0 hub and working group members who discussed transforming secondary mathematics teacher preparation. The panel included presentations from the MTEP Research Hub (Alyson Lischka, Middle Tennessee University [MTSU], and Wendy Smith, University of Nebraska-Lincoln [UNL]); the MTEP Outreach Hub (Marilyn Strutchens, Auburn University) on building effective partnerships; and the STRETCH (Supporting The Retention of Early-career Teachers of Mathematics) Working Group (Lisa Amick, University of Kentucky and Gina Wilson, Knowles Teacher Initiative) on using PDSA (Plan-Do-Study-Act) cycles to support early-career teachers to strengthen practice and create community. After each morning talk, conference participants had brief discussion breaks.
During a working lunch session, emceed by Matthew Chedister (University of Wisconsin-La Crosse), multiple scholars presented ignite talks—five minute presentations where slides automatically advanced every 15 seconds. Then, many attendees presented research in the afternoon breakout sessions. Topics included Get the Facts Out Materials, preparing teachers to teach statistics, NIC processes, understanding sustainable teacher pathways, recruitment, retention and data argumentation. Each talk was well-attended and represented relevant aspects of teacher preparation and the dual interests of the ESTEEM and MTEP groups.
The pre-conference evaluation summary, prepared by John T. Sutton and Carla Sutton of ResultED LLC, reflects an overall positive experience for conference attendees. Respondents to the evaluation survey rated the preconference as a whole very highly.
Links to all session slides, and any accompanying materials shared by presenters, are accessible via the pre-conference program, which was shared with participants by email. If you registered for the pre-conference and need help accessing session materials, contact Meghan Leadabrand at mleadabrand2@unl.edu.
The MTEP team would like to thank those who organized, helped, and participated for making the conference a wonderful success!
2026 MTEP & ESTEEM Pre-Conference planning committee
Stephanie Casey, Eastern Michigan University
Dana Pomykal Franz, Mississippi State University
Jeff Hovermill, Northern Arizona University
Rick Hudson, University of Southern Indiana
Meghan Leadabrand, UNL
W. Gary Martin, Auburn University
Pre-Conference volunteers
Rachel Abel, North Carolina State Universiy
Grace Bajar, MTSU
Lizzy Harkey, Auburn University
Sarah Hartman, MTSU
Ivan Lozano, MTSU
Camilla Ramos de Matos Carvalho Morone, UNL
Joy Rhodes, MTSU
Mariya Rosenhammer, Auburn University