Contact Information

C.V.

Biography

Dr. Melissa Boston is a Professor of Mathematics Education at Duquesne University. Dr. Boston teaches mathematics methods courses for elementary, middle school, and high school teachers. Prior to this, Dr. Boston taught middle school and high school mathematics. Dr. Boston provides professional development and conducts research nationally. She has obtained and directed grants for professional development projects from the Heinz Foundation, National Science Foundation, Pittsburgh Foundation, Remake Learning, and Spencer Foundation. She has served as external evaluator for several Mathematics-Science Partnership grants and Noyce Grants and on several research advisory boards. In her research, Dr. Boston examines mathematics teaching and learning through classroom observations and collections of students' work, using the Instructional Quality Assessment (IQA) in Mathematics Toolkit, for which she is lead developer.

Dr. Boston is currently serving on the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Board of Directors (2020-2023). She is a member of National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (AMTE), and Pennsylvania Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (PAMTE). Dr. Boston served on NCTM's Student Explorations in Mathematics committee, as Associate Editor of Mathematics Teacher Educator (2012-2015), as Series Editor for NCTM's 2017-2018 Annual Perspectives in Mathematics Education, and on NCTM's Principles to Actions Toolkit development team. She was awarded the Association of Teacher Educators' 2008 Distinguished Dissertation Award.

Dr. Boston is lead author of NCTM's Taking Action: Implementing Effective Mathematics Teaching Practice Grades 9-12 and Making Sense of Mathematics for Teaching to Inform Instructional Quality (Solution Tree). She has published her work in scholarly journals (Elementary School Journal, Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, International Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, Journal of Mathematics Education Leadership, Urban Education) and book chapters.

Dr. Boston received her B.S. in Mathematics and Secondary Mathematics Education from Grove City College. From the University of Pittsburgh, she received an M.A. in Mathematics and Ed.D. in Mathematics Education.

Education

  • Ed.D., Mathematics Education, University of Pittsburgh, 2006
  • M.A., Mathematics, University of Pittsburgh, 1997
  • B.S., Mathematics / Secondary Education, Grove City College, 1992

School

  • LTEC 321 Numeracy Content PK-4
  • EDLS 336/GSCE 536 Teaching Middle School Mathematics (Fall)
  • EDLS 341/GSCE 635 Teaching Secondary Mathematics (Spring)

Ongoing: Mathematics and Science Partnership (MSP) STEM Initiative, External evaluator

Project Director Nancy Tsupros (PA IU1 Mathematics and Science Center)

Ongoing: ITEST Robotics Project, Research Consultant

Principal Investigators Christian Schunn and Mary Kay Stein (University of Pittsburgh)

Ongoing: Instructional Quality Assessment (IQA) Mathematics Toolkit,

Training and Research Consultant:

Arizona State University (PI Pat Thompson), Educational Development Center, Michigan State University (PI Michael Steele), Mid-continental Center for Research on Education and Learning, Denver, CO (PI Andrea Beesley); MDRC Research Center (PI Janet Quint). North Carolina State University (PI Paola Sztajn), Ohio University (PI Greg Foley), University of Pennsylvania (PIs Jolley Christman and Jon Supovitz), and Vanderbilt University (PIs Paul Cobb and Tom Smith).

May 2010- December 2011: Duquesne University and Carnegie Learning, Inc., Principal Investigator

Summer Workshops to Improve Instruction in Mathematics

May, 2009-December, 2011: Duquesne University and Vanderbilt University:

Designing Learning Experiences to Enhance School Leadership in Mathematics Education

Project Director, with Erin Henrick and Paul Cobb.

May 2007- May 2011: Vanderbilt University:

Middle School Mathematics and the Institutional Setting of Teaching (MIST) Project,

Research Consultant; Principal Investigators Paul Cobb and Thomas Smith

August 2006- June 2009: Enhancing Secondary Mathematics Teacher Preparation (ESP) Project Follow-Up Study; Principal Investigator, with Margaret Smith (University of Pittsburgh)

August 2003-August 2005: Enhancing Secondary Mathematics Teacher Preparation (ESP) Project, Project Director; Principal Investigators Margaret Smith, Ellen Ansell, Paul Gartside, and Beverly Michael (University of Pittsburgh)

August 2000-August 2005: Instructional Quality Assessment (IQA) Project, Lead Developer, IQA Mathematics Rubrics; Principal Investigators Lauren Resnick, Brian Junker, and Lindsay Clare Matsumura (University of Pittsburgh)

August 1998- August 2003: Cases of Mathematics Instruction to Enhance Teaching (COMET), Graduate Research Assistant; Principal investigators Margaret Smith, Edward Silver, and Mary Kay Stein (University of Pittsburgh)

Steele, M. S. & Boston, M. D. (April, 2012). Using student work as a reflection on instruction. Paper presentation at the Research Pre-session of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA.

Colby, G. & Boston, M. D. (April 2012). Examining instructional quality and student achievement in mathematics. Paper presentation at the Research Pre-session of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA.

Boston, M. D. (April 2012). Tools of the Trade, Part 3. Invited presentation at the Research Pre-session of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA.

King, S. O., Stein, M. K., Schunn, C., & Boston, M. (April, 2012). Designing educative teacher guides for informal learning. Paper presentation at the annual meeting of the American Education Research Association, Vancouver, CN.

Boston, M. D.., Henrick, E. C., & Gibbons, L. K. (2011, November). Promoting academic excellence and systemic change by positioning principals as content-area instructional leaders: The case of mathematics. Paper presentation at the University Council for Educational Administration Convention, Pittsburgh, PA.

Berebitsky D., Henrick, E. C., Larbi-Cherif, A., & Boston, M. D. (2011, November). Developing instructional leadership through content-specific professional development. Paper presentation at the University Council for Educational Administration Convention, Pittsburgh, PA.

Colby, G., Boston, M. D. & Smith, T.M. (2011, September). Examining relationships between instructional quality and student achievement in middle-grades mathematics. Paper presentation at the Fall 2011 Conference of the Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness, Washington, D.C.

Boston, M. D. (2011, April). Connecting teachers' learning and instructional change to professional development experiences. Paper presentation at the Research Pre-session of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Annual Meeting, Indianapolis, IN.

Boston, M. D. & Colby, G. (2011, April). Identifying meaningful aspects of mathematics instruction. Paper presentation at the annual meeting of the American Education Research Association, New Orleans, LA.

Boston, M. D. & Gibbons, L. (2011, April). Using classroom observation instruments to improve principal's capacity as instructional leaders in mathematics. Paper presentation at the annual meeting of the American Education Research Association, New Orleans, LA.

Garrison, A. & Boston, M. D. (2011, April). Assessing instructional quality in mathematics to provide pathways for school improvement. Paper presentation at the annual meeting of the American Education Research Association, New Orleans, LA.

Colby, G. T., Gibbons, L. K, Henrick, E. C., Wong, J. W. & Boston, M. D. (2010, October) Supporting middle-grades principals as instructional leaders in mathematics. Paper presentation at the University Council for Educational Administration Convention, New Orleans, LA.

Boston, M. D. (2009, April). Assessing mathematics teachers' instructional practices. Paper presentation at the Research Pre-session of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C.

Boston, M. D., & Smith, M. S. (2009, April). Are mathematics teachers' instructional improvements sustained over time? Paper presentation at the Research Pre-session of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C.

Boston, M. D. (2009, January). Linking professional development to changes in secondary mathematics teachers' knowledge of cognitive demands. Paper presentation at the 2009 Hawaii International Conference on Education, Honolulu, HI.

Boston, M. D. (in press). Assessing the quality of mathematics instruction. To be published in Elementary School Journal, September, 2012.

Boston, M. D. (2012). Connecting changes in secondary mathematics teachers' knowledge to their experiences in a professional development workshop. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education. [DOI: 10.1007/s10857-012-9211-6]

Boston, M. D & Smith, M. S. (2011). A -task-centric approach- to professional development: Enhancing and sustaining mathematics teachers' ability to implement cognitively challenging mathematical tasks. ZDM: International Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 43, 965-977 [DOI 10.1007/s11858-011-0353-2].

Boston, M. D. & Smith, M. S. (2009). Transforming secondary mathematics teaching: Increasing the cognitive demands of instructional tasks used in teachers' classrooms. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 40(2), 119-156.

Matsumura, L. C., Garnier, H. Slater, S. C., & Boston, M. (2008). Toward measuring instructional interactions -at-scale.' Educational Assessment, 13(4), 267-300.

Hughes, E. A., Smith, M. S., Boston, M. D., & Hogel, M. (2008). Case stories: Supporting teacher reflection and collaboration on the implementation of cognitively challenging mathematical tasks. In F. Arbaugh & P. M. Taylor (Eds.), Inquiry into Mathematics Teacher Education. Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (AMTE) Monograph Series, Volume 5. AMTE: Reston, VA.

Boston, M. D. (2006). Developing secondary mathematics teachers' knowledge of and capacity of implement instructional tasks with high-level cognitive demands (Doctoral dissertation, University of Pittsburgh). Dissertation Abstracts International (Publication No. AAT 3223943).

Professional Development Books

Smith, M. S., Silver, E. A., Stein, M. K., Boston, M., Henningsen, M., & Hillen, A. F. (2005). Improving Instruction in Ratio and Proportion: Using Cases to Transform Mathematics Teaching and Learning, Volume 1. Teacher's College Press: New York.

Smith, M. S., Silver, E. A., Stein, M. K., Boston, M., Henningsen, M. (2005). Improving Instruction in Geometry and Measurement: Using Cases to Transform Mathematics Teaching and Learning, Volume 3. Teacher's College Press: New York.

Smith, M. S., Silver, E. A., Stein, M. K., Henningsen, M., Boston, M., & Hughes, E. (2005). Improving Instruction in Algebra: Using Cases to Transform Mathematics Teaching and Learning, Volume 2. Teacher's College Press: New York.