As Co-Director of WestEd's Math Pathways & Pitfalls, Jose Franco helps to develop professional learning online modules and disseminate materials.

Math Pathways & Pitfalls supports teaching practices and materials to improve students' mathematics achievement and academic language development. In 2009, the first-of-its-kind K-8 intervention curriculum was developed for educators as a series of books, posters, CDs, and DVDs. The Math Pathways & Pitfalls publishing team, which included Franco, worked across multiple departments, drawing on the expertise of its members in each of their given areas, ultimately leading the way in developing processes, procedures, protocols, and standards for excellence in publishing at WestEd. The team members initiated new processes for improving productivity by streamlining communication systems and decision-making, while documenting new protocols for replication.

In 2009, Franco and his Math Pathways & Pitfalls colleagues received the Award for Exceptional Contribution to the WestEd Community.

Prior to joining WestEd, Franco worked for the EQUALS Program at the University of California, Berkeley, and for the past 13 years served as the EQUALS Director. A strong understanding of mathematical concepts and effective teaching techniques is at the core of EQUALS.

While at EQUALS, Franco directed various grant-funded projects, including: Bridges to Excellence: Achievement in Mathematics, funded by the California Postsecondary Education Commission and the U.S. Department of Education; English Language Development in Mathematics Institute, funded by the University of California Office of the President; Family Advocacy in Mathematics Education Project, funded by the Lucent Technologies Foundation; After School Mathematics and Science Project, funded by the California Department of Education; and Science and Math in Spanish-language Media, funded by the National Science Foundation.

The Science and Math in Spanish-language Media project is an example of an initiative that has had a national impact in its four years of existence. The initiative's deliverables have already reached families in California, Texas, Florida, and Arizona through community-based newspapers, on radio, in parent involvement classes, at community festivals, and on the Internet. With ongoing exposure via the Internet and Spanish-language radio, Franco expects families from throughout the world to hear about, view, and download mathematics and science activities for use with their children.

Franco was also a K-6 bilingual teacher for over a decade in Colorado and California. He has conducted numerous presentations on family involvement, equity, mathematics education, and second language acquisition at the local, state, national, and international levels. In addition, he has written articles for publications such as Thoughts and Deeds: Equity in Mathematics and Science, published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science; Changing the Faces of Mathematics: Perspectives on Latinos, published by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics; and Advocating for Equity and Diversity Within the Context of Standards-Based Reform, published by the NCTM Standards Impact Research Group.

He received a BA in elementary education from Metropolitan State College in Denver, Colorado and an MA in mathematics education from San Francisco State University.