Release Date: February 2, 2011
In his 40 years at UNL, Jim Lewis has found success with his belief that discovering potential starts with a push.
“Young people overwhelmingly respond very positively to being challenged,” said the longtime mathematics professor. “Part of helping young people have the right college experience is that people have high expectations of them, but you match high expectations with a lot of support.”
Lewis, too, has responded well in the face of a challenge and by setting high expectations and garnering support. In the late 1990s, he was tapped to lead an effort to update a national publication guiding the math education of future K-12 teachers. Trouble was, he hadn’t taught a course for teachers since the 1970s, he said.
“I felt like I should go back and, as people say 'walk the walk, talk the talk,'” Lewis said. “I should teach teachers at UNL if I was going to be part of offering advice for the profession.”
He sought out Ruth Heaton, who had recently joined the faculty in UNL's College of Education and Human Sciences. Heaton shared Lewis' interest in improving the math education of teachers.
Together they revamped curriculum and created new programs to enable prospective teachers and those already in the field to boost math achievement across Nebraska.
With the support of institutional leaders and their colleagues, they worked across disciplinary lines and overcame organizational challenges that have halted similar ventures at other institutions.
To date, Lewis has been involved in efforts that secured $28 million in grants for teacher education programs.
Such programs have increased teachers' math content knowledge and research shows that teachers who know more can help students learn more, said Deborah Romanek, director of mathematics for the Nebraska Department of Education.
Lewis plays a vital role in math education in Nebraska, in part because of his commitment to find funding to support a statewide network of learners, she added.
Key to the success of the teacher education programs is Lewis' willingness to take the courses to the teachers, said Jim Harrington, supervisor of mathematics for the Omaha Public Schools.
Harrington has seen that program graduates come away with more than a passion for mathematics.
“They want to share with other teachers. They want to spread what they've learned through the district and they're so big on volunteering to help out,” he said. “I think a lot of that really came out of the way (Lewis) structured the program. It's made quite an impact.”