Nicola Hodkowski (she/her) is a senior mathematics education researcher at Digital Promise, a global, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization focused on expanding opportunities for every learner. In her current role, part of Hodkowski’s research investigates teachers’ shift towards better understanding the mathematics being taught, how one learns mathematics, and identifying what students know as a way to advance what they do not yet know. In her practice, she has made an important shift in thinking about how students learn mathematics and in recognizing students’ existing understanding of mathematical concepts. Those shifts have allowed her to make instructional decisions that tailor the intended goal for mathematics and the classroom activities to students’ conceptual strengths. Nicola received her doctorate in mathematics education from the University of Colorado, Denver.
