Rate My Professor Jennifer Lewis

Jennifer Lewis is a professor of mathematics education in Wayne State University’s College of Education, where she holds the position of Director of TeachDETROIT, a teacher preparation program focused on equipping educators for Detroit’s urban schools serving children of color in poverty. She conducts research in mathematics teacher education, teaches courses on teacher preparation and the study of teacher preparation, and delivers professional development to teachers in public, charter, and private schools in Detroit. Lewis developed MAE 1000: Detroit by the Numbers, a general education mathematics course that uses data and statistics from Detroit’s sectors, incorporating visits to local institutions and agencies. Her academic background includes a Ph.D. in Teacher Education and Mathematics Education from the University of Michigan in 2007, an M.A. in Educational Psychology from the University of California, Berkeley in 1985, and a B.A. in Development Studies from UC Berkeley in 1984. She also holds teacher certifications in elementary education, secondary English, and secondary social studies.

Lewis leads the Mathematics Education Research Group at Wayne State University alongside Dr. Asli Ozgun-Koca, exploring mathematics education across P-16 levels. Her research specializations encompass teacher learning, professional development, equitable mathematics teaching practices, teacher preparation and retention in high-poverty urban schools, and the effects of lesson study on professional growth. Key publications include “Mathematical knowledge for teaching and the mathematical quality of instruction: An exploratory study” (Hill et al., 2008, Cognition and Instruction), “Assessing teachers’ mathematical knowledge” (Hill et al., 2007), “Learning to lead, leading to learn: How facilitators learn to lead lesson study” (Lewis, 2016, ZDM Mathematics Education), “Teacher learning in lesson study” (Lewis et al., 2013, The Mathematics Enthusiast), and “Administrators’ uses of teacher observation protocol in different rating contexts” (Qi et al., 2018, ETS Research Report Series). She has received awards such as the 2019 Notable Woman in Education by Crain’s Detroit Business, the 2014 Faculty Research Award from the Wayne State University College of Education, and the 2013 Kathleen Reilly Koory Endowed Faculty Development Award. Notable grants include Noyce Mathematics Fellows: TeachDETROIT ($1,427,463, 2015-2020) and Understanding Consequential Assessment Systems of Teaching ($548,970, 2012-2015).