Paula Fleshman

Paula brings over 25 years combined experience in instruction, supervision, education/youth development research and evaluation, and mathematics coaching. She has had the privilege of supporting and guiding student interns as they prepared to enter the classroom, new math teachers as they gained their footing in their first years, and veteran math teachers in developing and redefining their craft. As an adjunct assistant professor in mathematics education at Brooklyn College, she enjoys teaching and developing NYC pre- and in-service elementary and secondary mathematics teachers in equitable teaching and learning practices as well as lesson studies, clinical interviews, and action research. As a former adjunct assistant professor in mathematics education at Hunter College, she supervised pre-service elementary and secondary teachers in mathematics at various public schools throughout New York City.

The totality of her education, data analysis, and research background has given her a nuanced perspective on K-12 teacher preparation, instructional and assessment needs, and supports in urban public schools, especially around inquiry-based and student-centered instruction in mathematics. As a mathematics coach, she has partnered with administrators, instructional leaders, and mathematics teams to design frameworks in support of school initiatives in numeracy, mathematical/growth mindset, and competency-based assessment. 

What drives Paula is her core belief that math is for everyone and everyone can do math. She loves to see students and teachers exploring and embracing self-empowering ways of learning and succeeding in math.

Paula earned her Ph.D. in Urban Education with a mathematics specialization from The CUNY Graduate Center, and her earlier degrees from Virginia Tech—M.S. in Statistics, B.S. in Mathematics, and B.A. in Spanish. For fun, she loves spending time with her amazing godchildren, family, and sorority sisters.