Candidate Statement for Director

Dr. Theodore Chao started his education career learning about true education from a rich, vibrant, and loving Latinx and Black community in Brooklyn, New York. Now, as an associate professor of Mathematics Education at The Ohio State University, Dr. Chao’s research, teaching, and activism focuses on the beauty of non-white communities engaging in stories that show the power and knowledge that all children, particularly children from historically marginalized communities, hold in their mathematics thinking. From Dr. Chao’s early dissertation research using photovoice to explore hidden stories of Latino mathematics teacher identity to his current NSF-funded research exploring community and family mathematics knowledge through digital mathematics storytelling, Dr. Chao has always centered his work with a commitment to equity and access for all learners, particularly through technology and visual media. Additionally, Dr. Chao’s work as an elementary mathematics teacher educator, community organizer, and filmmaker all exposes the ways mathematics education in the United States continues to violently center on Eurocentric norms that align mathematics learning to whiteness. 

Dr. Chao has published in journals such as Investigations in Mathematics Learning, Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, Mathematics Teacher Education and Development, and Digital Experiences in Mathematics Education. Dr. Chao has also served as an editor for the Postscripts section of Teaching Children Mathematics (TCM), an editorial panel member of Mathematics Teacher Educator (MTE), a steering committee member of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (PME-NA), and an organizer for the Free Minds, Free People (FMFP) conference. Dr. Chao also co-produced Radical Cram School, an award-winning children’s web series children’s connecting ethnic studies, puppets, and kid-friendly songs.