Faculty

Alicia Bitler is a Master Teacher. She graduated from Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania with a Master of Education, and two bachelors’ - Bachelor of Science in chemistry and a Bachelor of Arts in humanities. Prior to joining GWTeach she taught high school chemistry and physical science in Montgomery County public schools in Maryland. She also spent several years in the county as a science, technology and engineering content specialist and several years as a staff development teacher. Currently, she is working toward a doctorate of Curriculum and Instruction at GW with her research focused on gender discrepancies in science. She teaches Step 1, Perspectives of Math and Science, Topics in STEM teaching and facilitates field experiences for GWTeach students.

Meghan Hollibaugh Baker is a Master Teacher for GWTeach. She studied at St. Lawrence University in NY where she earned a B.S. in Biology and minored in Education, allowing her to graduate with teacher certification, similar to the GWTeach program model. She was awarded a fellowship to complete her M.A. in General Education at St. Lawrence University, while co-teaching undergraduate education courses. She currently holds K-12 educator certifications in biology, general science, and building-level administration in NY and RI. Meghan has spent her teaching career in urban school districts focused on closing achievement gaps and creating equitable opportunities for all students. Prior to joining the GWTeach team, Meghan taught high school biology, where she served in various leadership roles, before becoming an assistant principal at the middle school level. She completed her doctoral degree in Educational Leadership at Johnson & Wales University in RI in 2015, with her research focused on the relationship between educational technology, student self-efficacy, and academic achievement. Meghan teaches Step 1, Step 2, and Classroom Interactions, and facilitates field experiences for GWTeach students.

SuJin Choi is a Master Teacher for GWTeach. She graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a mathematics certification through the UTeach Natural Sciences Program, along with a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance. She earned her Master of Science in Mathematics Education from the University of Texas at San Antonio. Prior to joining the GWTeach team, SuJin taught high school mathematics in Northeast ISD in San Antonio, Texas, where she served in various leadership roles focusing on creative thinking and exploration of mathematics problems. SuJin teaches Step 1, Step 2, Knowing & Learning, Project-Based Instruction, and Functions & Modeling and facilitates field experiences for GWTeach students.

Curtis Pyke is an Associate Professor of Curriculum and Pedagogy in Math Education at the Graduate School of Education and Human Development. His role involves the development of math teachers through the Secondary Education M.Ed. He compliments that work by helping experienced teachers become education researchers through the Curriculum and Instruction Doctoral Program. He often collaborates with science education colleagues, math and science faculty, professional organizations and local schools, and has achieved national recognition for licensure programs, a master's-level curriculum for DC teachers, partnerships that provide tuition funding for teacher candidates and conducting major research in the curriculum materials field. Pyke became a teacher as an undergraduate through a program similar to GWTeach.

Tiffany-Rose Sikorski is an Assistant Professor in secondary science education. Dr. Sikorski’s research explores how learners of all ages think, reason, and talk science. She specializes in analyzing “coherence seeking,” that is, learners’ collaborative efforts to build relationships between ideas and identify and reconcile inconsistencies.Her current work continues to expand the coherence seeking framework so that it can inform the design of assessments, curriculum, and learning progressions aimed at supporting scientific inquiry and disciplinary practices of science.

Dr. Sikorski's recently funded projects include the STEM Integration Project (Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School), the HARK Proof of Concept project (Honda Motor Company & Honda Research Institute Japan), Building Capacity for Disciplinary Experts in Math and Science Teaching (National Science Foundation), and The GW Learning Assistant Program (GW Columbian College of Arts and Sciences).

Dr. Sikorski's science teaching experience includes public and charter high schools, after school programs, and museum settings. Her pedagogy courses aim to empower future teachers to create meaningful science learning experiences for their students, experiences that build on students’ vast capabilities for making sense of the natural world and that sustain student interest and participation over time.

LaKeisha McClary is an Assistant Professor of Chemistry. At GWTeach, she is interested in research-based instructional strategies (RBIS) like problem-based learning and collaborating across disciplines with other faculty to develop new and better strategies for educating students in introductory-level science and mathematics courses. As a chemistry education researcher, she understands the challenges of integrating educational research into courses. She partners with multiple GW departments and with District of Columbia Public School teachers to develop strategies for success. By modeling quality, research-based instruction in actual college chemistry courses and allowing students to contribute to the sustainability of the instruction, she sees GWTeach as a way to transform students, faculty, administrative units and the communities where they live, work and play.

Dan Ullman is a Professor of Mathematics and Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies. He served in 2006-2007 as the AAAS Congressional Fellow funded by the American Mathematical Society. During that year, he worked for the House Committee on Science and Technology, more specifically for their Subcommittee on Research and Science Education, focusing on math and science education policy at NSF. The critical shortage of well-prepared math and science teachers across the US became a central tenet of his work there, and his subcommittee set in motion a number of efforts to address this in the America Competes Act of 2007. Returning to GW, he became the PI of a Math Science Partnership, working on professional development of middle school math teachers in the District of Columbia. In association with that project, he visited many teachers and many schools across the District and saw first-hand what good teachers do and what bad teachers are unable to do. At the same time, he launched the D.C. Math Circle, through which he worked directly with groups of D.C. middle school students to introduce them to creative thinking and exploration of mathematics problems. For decades, our country has not done a good job of producing teachers who know math and science and also know how students learn math and science. His goal with regard to GWTeach is to be part of the national effort to turn this around—to train, motivate and mentor our brightest STEM students to enter the teaching profession.