We are honored to feature Professor Sid Rachlin as our current faculty spotlight. Dr. Rachlin has had a distinguished career as a mathematics education professor. His 13 page long resume is filled with his many contributions to the field–from the 68 books and book chapters that he has written, the numerous presentations that he has given, the 39 grants that he has secured totaling over $25 million dollars, to the awards that he has received. Through these awards, more then 500 teachers have completed graduate course work designed to improve the teaching and learning of K-12 mathematics. Of these teachers nearly 100 have earned grant-supported masters degrees in mathematics education.
From the Hawaii Algebra Learning Project, to the NC Middle Math Project, to NC PIMS, to the design and implementation of the Elementary Mathematics Add-on License, Dr. Rachlin has been an active advocate for supporting the lifelong learning of mathematics teachers in our country. In his role as Coordinator of Mathematics Education at East Carolina University, Dr. Rachlin secured funding from the National Science Foundation to support the design and implementation of a new program of study for preparing teachers of middle grades mathematics. Based on the efforts of the curriculum team and their colleagues in middle grades education — ECU was one of only four universities to ever receive the U.S. Department of Education’s National Award for Effective Teacher Preparation. At the award ceremony in Washington, DC, Secretary Riley stated, “These cutting-edge programs will provide powerful examples for others seeking to ensure that their graduates make a measurable difference in the achievement of K-12 students. We looked for programs that could provide compelling evidence that their graduates were effective classroom teachers capable of advancing the learning of all students.” December 2000
Sid Rachlin began his teaching career after graduating with a BSc degree in Secondary Mathematics from Shippensburg State College in 1969. After completing his masters at Lehigh University he became the Mathematics Chair at Reading Area Community College in 1971. He received his doctoral degree from the University of Georgia in 1981 and taught at the University of Calgary and the University of Hawaii before arriving at East Carolina University in 1993.
Dr. Rachlin will be retiring this August. He will be sorely missed.
