Our authors

Amy Anderson boasts a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction. Her professional experience includes working as a secondary math teacher and an instructional coach. Today, she devotes herself as a high school assistant principal, a director for the International Teacher Exchange Program, and an adjunct faculty member at North Central Texas College.

Here at STEMscopes, she has served as a member of our Curriculum Advisory Board since summer 2019. She takes great pride in building a collaborative environment, while creating a variety of learning activities that support multiple instructional modalities. STEMscopes is delighted to have her work as a positive instructional leader who finds great value in participating on a dedicated team creating aligned curriculum resources that increase engagement and achievement.

Julie Barrett earned her Doctorate in Education from Sam Houston State University and her Master in Education from Trinity University in San Antonio, TX. She served in Texas public schools for 34 years as a teacher and administrator, teaching grades 3-12 in special and general education in urban, suburban, and rural settings. She currently teaches Senior Math Methods at Texas A&M University. As a building administrator, she worked with other educators to successfully bring a struggling school to recognized performance levels. She considers those years to be some of the most challenging, yet rewarding ones of her career.

Barrett joins STEMscopes Math as a member of our advisory board,applying her passion for drawing out the joy and wonder in students as they learn new math concepts.

When she is not engaged in teaching and promoting a deeper understanding of math education, Barrett focuses on developing a homestead in East Texas, where she and her husband raise butterflies and garden with pollinators and produce.

Diana Bauer holds a Master’s degree in Education from Lamar University and is currently working on a Doctorate in Educational Leadership at Texas A&M University. Over the years, Diana has worked as an elementary teacher, middle school science teacher, instructional coach, district mathematics coordinator, and an assistant principal.

As a member of our advisory board, Diana is able to apply her love for all things algebra by helping create our algebra I and middle school mathematics curriculum. She takes pride in working through the productive struggle of math that leads to success in problem solving.

Diana has also been happily married to her husband for over 25 years after they first met while working as firefighter/EMTs in Philadelphia, PA.

Justin Burris comes to us following 17 years as an elementary teacher and mathematics coach for Alief ISD. Justin earned his degree in Elementary Education with a concentration in mathematics from Eastern Illinois University. He later earned his Master of Education and doctorate at the University of Houston. He currently works as the clinical assistant professor of mathematics education at the University of Houston, where he teaches mathematics content and methods to undergraduate students. Additionally, he supervises teacher candidates in the field during their year-long student-teaching residency.

Justin is an advisory board member and content reviewer here at STEMscopes, where he takes great pride in connecting students to mathematics as they realize and visualize the subject at hand. Although many believe there is one way to look at math or one pathway to solve problems, Justin knows that there are in fact multiple visualizations, pathways, and strategies compatible with students’ personal experiences in their families, cultures, and communities.

With a Masters of Education from Lesley University and 27 years of STEM-teaching experience, Alicia Chiasson comes to us with an extensive educational background. She joined our team at STEMscopes eight years ago, developing mathematics curriculum materials for TX K-5, CCSS K-5, Florida K-5, and Texas and Common Core programs for middle school.

What really excites Alicia about curriculum development is facilitating student collaboration as part of the problem-solving process and observing students’ excitement when they understand the concepts and the reasoning behind them. She is passionate about continual student engagement and the spirit of creativity and innovation that results from inquiry-based learning.

Alicia is mother to an 18-year-old son who studies music at college and wife to a high school English teacher. Both of her parents were teachers and inspired her to join the education field. When not writing math problems, Alicia enjoys cooking, yoga, dance, and long walks in the woods or on the beach.

Elizabeth Jia Paek holds a Texas Principal Certification from the University of Houston-Victoria and a Master of Education in Educational Psychology from Texas A&M University.

Paek has worked as an Assistant Principal for the past 2 years and has 14 years of classroom teaching experience. She also devotes her passion to STEMscopes as a member of our K-2 Math Advisory Board.

Laney Sammons comes to us with 16 years as a classroom teacher and 5 years as an academic coach. She boasts a Bachelors in Economics from Vassar College and a Master of Legal Studies from Mercer University. Throughout her career, Laney has worked with educators across both the U.S. and Canada as a mathematics consultant. She’s also written 14 books teaching educators how to approach mathematics instruction.

Today, she serves on the advisory board for STEMscopes. She takes great joy in addressing the challenges faced when identifying problem areas and helping students discover how amazing math really is.

In her retirement, Laney lives in Vermont, where she enjoys long hikes on the beautiful trails near her home.

A third-generation PhD, Dr. Diana Saylak comes to us from Lovejoy ISD and boasts a Doctoral degree in Educational Leadership from Dallas Baptist University. She spent eight years teaching elementary grades and served six years as a math instructional coach. Before partnering with the math department at STEMscopes, she was part of the initial cohort of teachers that both used STEMscopes Science and wrote STEMscopes Science. She has worked as an instructor for Great Expectations since 2006 and still trains educators across the country in the methodologies and practices of Great Expectations. Additionally, she develops experiences for virtual training.

Dr. Saylak was also involved in designing three new school buildings, which have all won awards for design and instructional practices. She has presented on a wide variety of educational topics, including developing number sense, project-based learning, and school design.

Today, Dr. Saylak belongs to the advisory team for STEMscopes. As a STEM educator, she stands for promoting positive math attitudes. She believes that shifting from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset is possible when we celebrate mistakes, persevere through difficult problems, believe in our collective capacity, and share our own thoughts and ideas. Her passion is to inspire, encourage, and motivate learning in all students to best prepare them for their futures.

In her free time, Dr. Saylak enjoys spending time with friends and family, vacationing in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and watching the Texas A&M Aggies win! It is not uncommon to find her sitting in front of a board game or puzzle, playing trivia in the evenings, putting up one of her many Christmas trees, or working in her backyard garden.

Caren Sorrells boasts a Master’s degree in Education, along with 19 years of math-teaching experience, spanning from 5th grade to high school. She went on from teaching to work as a mathematics coordinator for both Keller ISD and Birdville ISD, retiring in 2014 to pursue independent consulting. Additionally, Caren served as President of the Texas Association of Supervisors of Mathematics for two terms and was instrumental in ratifying TEKS.

Caren joined STEMscopes’ advisory board and takes great pride in applying her expertise to the creation of STEMscopes Math. Her passion is found in the enthusiasm she sees when students persevere through math to apply what they have learned to the real world.

In her retirement years, Caren continues to use everyday math in her favorite hobbies, cooking and scrapbooking.

Carolyn White is a dedicated teacher with over 50 years of experience. A native Houstonian, Carolyn graduated from Texas Southern University (TSU) in 1974 with a Master of Education, a degree she earned while teaching elementary mathematics in Houston ISD, where she devoted 39 years of continuous service. From there, she moved on to Rice University School Mathematics Project, where she began working as a Master Teacher in 1998, later becoming the Director of the Mathematics Program in 2008. During her illustrious career, she has been awarded the Houston Area Teacher of the Year and has presented at various education conferences throughout the country.

Here at STEMscopes, Carolyn is an advisory committee member, helping educators increase student engagement with mathematical concepts and integrate mathematics in all STEM subjects. She also takes pride in promoting Equity and Cultural Proficient math lessons to enhance all students’ understanding of math.

Carolyn was a co-star on the award-winning Houston ISD TV show Math-A-Letics for seven years. The show used sports to illustrate real-world applications of mathematics and other STEM subjects. In her spare time, Carolyn loves to travel throughout the U.S. and abroad.

Rachel Williams began her education career in 2000 after receiving her bachelors in Liberal Studies. Starting as a 5th grade teacher, she has worked as a site-based math and ELA interventionist, a mathematics curriculum specialist, an MTSS and intervention specialist, and a Vice Principal.

Today, Rachel is a member of the California State Board of Adoption for STEMscopes’ recent Common Core, ELA, and Mathematics adoption. She loves working with a hands-on, logically based curriculum tailored to the scope and sequence of how students learn mathematics with real-world applications.