Shandy Hauk is a Senior Research Associate in the Mathematics, Science, Engineering, and Technology Program at WestEd.

Hauk is a specialist in responsive mixed-methods research and assessment design for K-20 mathematics and science teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge development. Her research focus is on culturally competent and technology-enriched teaching and learning of mathematics and science.

She is Project Director with Co-Director Cathy Carroll for Making Middle School Mathematics Accessible to All Students, a teacher professional development project funded by the Institute of Education Sciences. The project supports 75 teachers, paraprofessionals, and teacher leaders in California, Texas, and Colorado in learning teams as they use Web 2.0 digital tools to communicate professionally while implementing core ideas from language development to improve middle school mathematics teaching and learning.

As Project Director for Video Cases for Novice College Mathematics Instructor Professional Development, Hauk leads the development, research, and piloting of a book-DVD package of video cases and supporting materials about college mathematics teaching and learning in undergraduate service courses (e.g., calculus for the life sciences, math for prospective teachers, college algebra, liberal arts mathematics). This project is sponsored by the Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education.

As Co-Principal Investigator and head of the Research Team for the National Science Foundation-funded Mathematics Teacher Leadership Center, Hauk guides a team of researchers in capturing and reporting on the experiences of dozens of in-service secondary mathematics teachers. The teachers are participants in a partnership of Colorado and Wyoming school districts and universities providing a master’s-degree-based professional development program to support culturally competent master teachers and teacher leaders in the Rocky Mountain region.

In addition, Hauk is a researcher and leader for culturally responsive assessment development on the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded Culturally Relevant Ecology, Learning Progressions, and Environmental Literacy project. The project’s professional development for teachers and curriculum development for grades 7-12 environmental science students have been used by hundreds of teachers and thousands of students nationwide.

Hauk is also the mathematics content review team leader for the National Center on Cognition and Mathematics Instruction, a project that refines and researches the impact of a successful middle school mathematics curriculum (Connected Mathematics Project) using key cognitive science principles. Hauk's work in mathematics instructional enhancement also includes her role as reviewer for the NSF-funded Math Pathways and Pitfalls online teacher professional development materials.

As a National Advisory Board member for the NSF-sponsored Mathematics and Culture in Micronesia: Integrating Societal Experiences project, Hauk supports the development of distance-delivered mathematics education graduate programs in the Northern Pacific. The doctoral and master’s students in these programs are working to produce culturally and linguistically relevant mathematics curricula for grades 1-7 for that region.

Prior to joining WestEd, Hauk taught K-12 and college mathematics, middle and high school English, and graduate mathematics education research theory and design.

As a member of the mathematical sciences faculty at the University of Northern Colorado, Hauk has been doctoral advisor for six PhD students; their research work ranges from pre-service elementary teacher pedagogical content knowledge for integer and fraction multiplication to visualization and the function concept among college students with ADHD and novice college teacher professional learning about mathematics instruction.


Hauk has authored many publications for academic and practitioner journals, and peer-reviewed proceedings for conferences such as the Mathematical Association of America’s Conference on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education and the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education. She also has presented at regional, national, and international conferences in the fields of education policy and mathematics and science education research.

Her recent publications include:

• Tsay, J.-J., Judd, A. B., Hauk, S., & Davis, M. K. (2011). Case study of a college mathematics instructor: Patterns of classroom discourse. To appear: Educational Studies in Mathematics.
  Hauk, S., Yestness, N., & Novak, J. (2011, February).


• Transitioning from cultural diversity to cultural competence in mathematics instruction. In S. Brown (Ed.), Proceedings of the 14th conference on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education (Portland, OR).


• Segalla, A., & Hauk, S. (2010, Spring). High school mathematics homework and WeBWorK: A match whose time has come. Journal of the Central California Mathematics Project, 11-25.


• Hauk, S., Chamberlin, M., Cribari, R., Judd, A. B., Deon, R., Tisi, A., & Kakakhail, H. (2010). Case story: Mathematics teaching assistant. Studies in Graduate and Professional Student Development, 12, 39-62.


• Hauk, S., Jackson, B., & Noblet, K. (2010, February). No teacher left behind: Assessment of secondary mathematics teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge. In S. Brown (Ed.), Proceedings of the 13th conference on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education (Raleigh, NC). Electronic proceedings.


• Davis, M. K., Hauk, S., Latiolais, M. P. (2009). Culturally responsive college level mathematics. In B. Greer, S. Nelson-Barber, A. Powell, & S. Mukhopadhyay (Eds.). Culturally responsive mathematics education (pp. 345-372). Mahway, NJ: Erlbaum.

She completed a BA in theater and film and a PhD in mathematics from the University of California, Irvine and a post-doctoral fellowship in mathematics education from Arizona State University.