Former Michigan high school math teacher Glenda Lappan earns national recognition for developing the Connected Mathematics curriculum for middle schoolers. Photo Credit: Michigan State University
Have you ever heard of the Connected Mathematics instructional program for middle schoolers? If you have, then you have also probably heard of the curriculum developer, educator Glenda Lappan.
Glenda was born in 1939, and was raised as an only child on a farm in southern Georgia. After her graduation from high school, she attended Mercer University, where she earned her undergraduate degree in 1961. She earned her PhD at the University of Georgia in 1965.
Once she earned her undergraduate degree, Glenda taught mathematics at the high school level for several years in Georgia.
In 1965, Glenda earned a position as a professor of mathematics at Michigan State University. She taught there until her retirement in 2015, a total of 50 years. During these years, she directed the middle school portion of a project sponsored by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). Her goal there was to help develop curriculum and evaluation standards for math.
When she completed that project, Glenda inaugurated her next endeavor, the Connected Mathematics Project. With colleague Elizabeth Phillips, she conducted research and developed five curriculum units for teachers and students focused on important ideas in mathematics. The undertaking was received so well it expanded from there. Today, the project’s curriculum is taught in all 50 states. It has even been assigned “Exemplary” status by the US Department of Education.
In addition to her research and teaching responsibilities at Michigan State, Glenda served as the President of the NCTM from 1998 to 2000. During her presidency, the volume Principles and Standards for School Mathematics was published. Later Glenda served as the Chair of the Mathematical Sciences Education Board of the National Academy of Sciences. She has also worked in Washington, DC, as Vice-Chair of the Mathematical Sciences Education Board at the National Academy of Sciences (1994-1998), and she served for nine years on the National Education Research Policy and Priorities Board of the US Department of Education.
For her work in the field of education, Glenda has earned many accolades. She garnered the Louise Hay Award from the Association for Women in Mathematics in 1996. She was named a University Distinguished Professor at Michigan State in 1998. In 2002, the Connected Mathematics Project established the Lappan/Phillips/Fitzgerald Endowed Chair in Mathematics Education at Michigan State, named after Glenda and two other esteemed founders of the Connecte Math Project. The NTCM honored her with their Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004. Glenda and colleague Elizabeth Phillips shared the International Society for Design and Development in Education Prize. Finally, Glenda was inducted into the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame in 2009.
To learn more about the Connected Mathematics Instructional Program, click on this link to Educational Designer.
