Usha Kotelawala

Dr. Usha Kotelawala loves getting people excited to solve a problem.  She credits excellent teachers for opening doors throughout her life.  While she was born and mostly raised in Seattle, she has been living and working New York City for over thirty years. 

She began her career as a high school teacher and has since worked in middle and elementary schools as a coach and in teacher education.  Her path in NYC began by work in Coalition of Essential Schools and leading the initial Math team for the Consortium math rubric.  She also worked as an editor and then a professional developer for COMAP’s Mathematics Modeling Our World.  She shifted into coaching for middle schools in the South Bronx.

While teaching and coaching she also pursued and completed a doctorate at Teachers College, Columbia University focusing on teachers’ attitudes and beliefs about proving under the advisement of Henry Pollak.  She led the mathematics education programs in K-12 teacher education at Fordham University and as a curriculum developer for the State of New York creating a course for struggling students.  And through the CUNY Research Foundation she developed and provided a ten-day sequence of professional development for over 70 schools using the LINCT program.

Her mentors and educators have included Lucy West in Coaching, Mark Driscoll in professional development and algebraic thinking and Rick Lear in school start-ups.  Her dissertation, advised by Henry Pollak, focused on teachers’ attitudes and beliefs on proving in the classroom.  Her published work has focused on lesson study and teacher collaboration as well as on probability modeling for algebra students.

Her recent work has included supporting national charter networks in regions across the country. She continues to learn and grow in each year in the field and also as the mother of a seventh and ninth grader.  Its her new microscope on the learning of math.