Authors for Everyday Mathemematics

Carla Strickland

Digital Development Manager 

Carla came to UChicago STEM Education in 2011, after wrapping up her editorial work with the secondary component of the University of Chicago School Mathematics Project. She led the digital development team for Everyday Mathematics, adapting EM4 content for a digital platform and incorporating dynamic geometry and mathematics software into the curriculum. Her current portfolio includes consulting with various computer science curricular teams on suitable adaptations for implementation alongside mathematics curricula at the elementary level and for the AP CSP exam.

A native of Trinidad and Tobago, Carla spent several years teaching and developing mathematics curriculum at the primary, secondary, and tertiary level in Trinidad, as head instructor of The School of Mathematics. She is proud to bring an international perspective and Caribbean flavor to her work at UChicago STEM Education. 

Debbie Leslie

Senior Curriculum Developer and Grade K Leader, Early Childhood Specialist, Director of Science Companion Projects

Debbie Leslie is a School Development Director and Senior Curriculum Developer at UChicago STEM Education at the University of Chicago. She has led the PreKindergarten and Kindergarten author teams for Everyday Mathematics, a PreK–Grade 6 reform-based mathematics curriculum, and for Science Companion, an inquiry-based PreK–Grade 6 science curriculum. Leslie is an organizer and member of the Early Childhood STEM Working Group, a group of scholars, policymakers, curriculum developers, and educators who authored a 2017 report titled Early STEM Matters: Providing High-Quality Learning Experiences for All Young Learners. Leslie also works on many other projects at UC STEM Ed that draw on her interests in math, science, early childhood, and school leadership, including partnering with faculty in the University of Chicago Science of Learning Center and Department of Psychology to develop a formative early math assessment, directing a Chicago-based project focused on developing administrative and teacher leadership for mathematics and science in elementary schools, and teaching math and science methods courses to pre-service elementary teachers in the University of Chicago’s Urban Teacher Education. Leslie taught Pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten, and First Grade for 10 years in Connecticut and in the Chicago area. She has also done work for the Bush Center for Child Development and Social Policy at Yale University and the Field Museum in Chicago. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Molecular Biochemistry and Biophysics from Yale University and a Master's Degree in Teaching from the University of Chicago.  She is currently a doctoral student in Educational Policy Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago. 

Rachel Malpass McCall

Grade 1 Leader 

Rachel began work at the University of Chicago’s STEM Education in the spring of 2004. McCall served as an Associate Director of Everyday Mathematics Development for both the Fourth Edition and the Common Core State Standards Edition. McCall was also the lead author of Grade 1 Everyday Mathematics for the Fourth Edition, the Common Core State Standards Edition, and the Third Edition. She co-authored Everyday Mathematics My Reference Book. McCall recently authored Everyday Mathematics for Parents, published by the University of Chicago Press in 2017. 

Before coming to the University of Chicago, McCall worked at Pearson Education in the elementary mathematics and science departments. McCall spent seven years teaching elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee; Atlanta, Georgia; and Berwyn, Illinois, prior to her time at Pearson. McCall holds a teaching certificate in Early Childhood Education, undergraduate degrees in Mathematics and Early Childhood Education from Vanderbilt University, and a master’s degree in Reading and Learning Disabilities from DePaul University. McCall lives in Nashville, Tennessee with her husband and two daughters. She is currently the Director of STEM for Aptara Corporation, a full-service vendor that develops educational programs for large publishers. 

Cheryl Moran

Senior Curriculum Developer, Grade 2 Leader

As a senior curriculum developer, Cheryl Moran is working on development of Everyday Mathematics. She is an author of the Common Core State Standards edition and the third edition Grade 2 Everyday Mathematics and co-author of Everyday Mathematics My Reference Book. Cheryl was also the team leader for the Grade 2 third edition. Cheryl has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a master’s degree in teaching from National College in Evanston, Illinois. She began her career with 8 years as an elementary school teacher in both public and private schools. She has also written after-school materials aligned to Everyday Mathematics, developed and implemented workshops for in-service teachers, teacher leaders, and administrators at both the local and national levels. She has coordinated in-school support for the Chicago Public Schools Restructuring Schools Support Project and supported mathematics instruction at several Chicago public schools. 

Mary Ellen Dairyko

Associate Director, Everyday Mathematics Development, Grade 3 Leader

Ellen Dairyko is a senior curriculum developer and Associate Director, Everyday Mathematics Development at the University of Chicago’s Center for Elementary Mathematics and Science Education (CEMSE). She is one of the authors of the third edition, and the Common Core State Standards edition of Grade 3 Everyday Mathematics. Additionally, she co-authored the Everyday Mathematics My Reference Book. She has developed and implemented professional development training for teachers, teacher leaders, and administrators in Chicago and elsewhere. Dairyko taught in Kindergarten through eighth grade special education settings and in early childhood general education settings in Chicago public schools. She holds a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from National-Louis University and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Mundelein College. 

Rebecca Maxcy

Senior Curriculum Developer, Grade 4 Leader

Rebecca W. Maxcy is a senior curriculum developer at UChicago STEM Education at the University of Chicago. She is one of the authors of the CCSS edition of Grade 4 Everyday Mathematics. She worked as a teacher in residence on the Grade 4 Everyday Mathematics third edition and on various state specific editions. Currently, Maxcy is planning future development of Everyday Mathematics. She taught elementary school in Chicago public schools, Cape Elizabeth, Maine, and Poland Springs, Maine. Maxcy trained resident teachers at the Chicago Academy, in addition to being adjunct faculty at National Louis University. Maxcy earned a master’s in elementary education from Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and a bachelor of arts degree from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. 

Sarah Burns

Senior Curriculum Developer, Grade 5 Leader

Sarah Burns came to UChicago STEM Education from Connecticut, where she taught in the Farmington Public School system. She began by working as part of a program funded by the Illinois Board of Higher Education that provided support to teachers using Everyday Mathematics  in Chicago Public Schools. Sarah was the sixth-grade team leader for the Common Core State Standards edition of Everyday Mathematics and is currently serving as the Grade 5  Everyday Mathematics  team leader. Sarah holds a bachelor’s degree in English and a master of science degree in elementary education, both from the University of Pennsylvania. 

Kathleen Pitvorec

Grade 6 Leader

Kathleen Pitvorec holds a B.A. in Anthropology and an M.S.T. from the University of Chicago and her Ph.D. in Learning Sciences with a focus in Mathematics Education from University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). Kathleen began her career in education with eight years as an elementary school teacher in both public and private schools. She left the classroom to become part of the author team of Everyday Mathematics, joining the team in late 1995 as a Teacher-in-Residence, and becoming one of the authors for second and third editions.

Kathleen is one of the second-edition authors and coordinated the field test of the revised materials. From 2000 to 2004, Kathleen served as the Associate Director of the Implementation Center at the University of Chicago School Mathematics Project (UCSMP). In this position, she developed and implemented workshops and for inservice teachers, teacher-leaders, and administrators at local and national levels. She also organized national leadership conferences for Everyday Mathematics district leaders. 

From 2005 to 2007, Kathleen was a third edition author of Everyday Mathematics. She oversaw the development, field testing, and revision of open-response assessment items for Grades 1–6. She is a co-author on the grade-level specific third edition Differentiation Handbooks and Assessment Handbooks included with the program materials. 

From 2006 to the present, Kathleen has been involved with several NSF-funded research projects at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) including: an investigation of teachers' implementations of elementary school standards-based mathematics lessons; an analysis of assessment tools in Everyday Mathematics; an analysis of how a written mathematics curriculum can be designed to support dual-language learners.  

Most recently, Kathleen served as the lead author on the fourth edition of Sixth Grade Everyday Mathematics. She is currently a researcher working closely with middle school teachers on an investigation of how learning trajectory-based formative assessment practices impact student learning of algebra. Kathleen currently teaches mathematics content and methods courses for preservice and inservice teachers at UIC and Northwestern University. 

Ava Belisle-Chatterjee

Differentiation Team Leader

Ava Belisle-Chatterjee, Ph.D. is currently an Associate Professor of Education at Columbia College Chicago.  She was also the founding chairperson of the Education Department at Columbia College Chicago, serving in that role for 19 years. 

Dr. Belisle-Chatterjee has also worked as a curriculum writer with the University of Chicago’s Center for Mathematics and Science Education (CEMSE) to contribute English language and academic language development suggestions for lesson content in the Everyday Mathematics program. 

She holds a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Illinois at Chicago; an MA in Linguistics from the University of Chicago; and a BA (with honors) from Loyola University of Chicago.  Prior to her university career, Dr. Belisle-Chatterjee was an elementary school bilingual teacher for 12 years with the Chicago Public Schools.

Cathy Kelso

Open Response Team Leader, Reference Book Team Leader

Cathy Kelso joined CEMSE as a senior curriculum developer in 2011.  She led the writing team that wrote and field-tested the open response lessons for Grades 1– 5 and the team that revised the Student Reference Books for Everyday Mathematics Fourth Edition.  Cathy began her career as a Teacher Corps intern in New Mexico and then taught seventh-grade math in Ohio. She came to CEMSE from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) where she taught Math for Elementary Teachers, directed the Teaching Integrated Math and Science (TIMS) Project, was an author for Math Trailblazers, and served as Principal Investigator of the NSF-funded Math Trailblazers Research and Revision Study.