Elizabeth (Liz) Van Cleef

Who is Liz?

Elizabeth (Liz) Van Cleef graduated from Penn State University with a Bachelor’s degree in Social Welfare, and a minor in Black Studies. She practiced hospital social work in Philadelphia before beginning her teaching career at a small Quaker school there. Liz received a Masters degree in Teacher Ed from the Bank Street College of Education and taught grades two through six in New York City, Denver, Philadelphia, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.
She studied with Marilyn Burns, Constance Kamii, and, extensively, with SummerMath for Teachers (Math Leadership Programs) at Mount Holyoke College. Liz was part of the Mathematics Initiative in District 2 in New York City, and served as the Mathematics Professional Development Specialist on the Regional Alliance Project at TERC in Cambridge, Mass. She was a contributing author on the Investigations in Number, Data, and Space curriculum, and developed week-long workshops to support the implementation of the curriculum while working as a Senior Research and Development Specialist at TERC. Liz has worked as a mathematics specialist, and a mathematics coach and is currently a K-5 mathematics coach in the Cambridge Public Schools.

Liz also consults to support the improvement of the teaching and learning of mathematics in districts across the country. She is an experienced Developing Mathematical Ideas facilitator and trainer, and has taught DMI, as well as Connecting Arithmetic to Algebra, with the Math Leadership Programs at Mount Holyoke College, as well as independently in districts throughout the country.