Director of the Investigations Center for Curriculum and Professional Development

Karen  Economopoulos

Program/Areas of Interest

  • The Investigations Center for Curriculum and Professional Development
    This group’s work focuses on providing professional development and other support to schools and districts looking to use Investigations to improve the teaching and learning of mathematics for all students and teachers.
  • Investigations in Number, Data, and Space®
    Investigations 
    is a comprehensive K-5 mathematics curriculum that pays deep and careful attention to mathematics content and to student thinking and understanding. Making sense of mathematics is the heart of the work, for students and teachers.
  • Where’s the Math in the Kindergarten Classroom?
    A professional development project, funded by Exxon Education Foundation, focused on identifying and supporting mathematics in the Kindergarten classroom.

Biography

Karen is director of the Investigations Center for Curriculum and Professional Development. Since coming to TERC in 1991, the majority of her work has focused on the development and support of the elementary mathematics curriculum Investigations in Number, Data and Space®. Her work on Investigations spans all three editions. She oversaw the development of K-2 for the 1st edition and co-directed the development of the 2nd and 3rd editions. When not in a development phase, Karen works extensively with classroom teachers, administrators, and school districts in the area of curriculum implementation and reform. Karen has served on numerous advisory boards including the Mathematical Sciences Education Board. She is a former K-2 teacher with a special interest in supporting the range of learners in elementary classrooms and in Early Childhood mathematics.

Associations

  • NCSM
  • NCTM
  • ATMIN

Investigations 3 Blog Posts

Highlighted Publications

Economopoulos, K. & Sussman, A. (2019). Online or In-Person: The Power of Collaborative ConversationsHands On! Magazine. 10-11. TERC

TERC. Investigations in Number, Data, and Space®, 3rd ed. Glenview, IL: Pearson, 2017.

Russell, Susan Jo, Economopoulos, Karen, Wittenberg, Lucy, et al. (2008). Investigations in Number, Data, and Space®. A complete K-5 mathematics curriculum. Second edition. Glenview, IL: Pearson Scott Foresman.

Russell, Susan Jo, Mokros, Jan, Tierney, Cornelia, Economopoulos, Karen et al. (1998). Investigations in Number, Data, and Space®. First edition. Palo Alto, CA: Dale Seymour Publications.

Economopoulos, Karen. (1998). What Comes Next? The Mathematics of Patterns in Kindergarten. Teaching Children Mathematics, v5 n4, 230-233.

Mokros, J., Russell, S., Economopoulos, K. (1995). Beyond Arithmetic: Changing Mathematics in the Elementary Classroom. Dale Seymour Publications.