Doug Van Dine

Doug Van Dine brings more than 30 years of experience in mathematics education, spanning from the classroom to supporting applied research and technical assistance with state and district partners.

Van Dine has served as project lead on several projects through the Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Central, including assisting states in work such as understanding the root causes of the lower than expected math achievement in South Dakota, exploring associations between students’ knowledge and teachers’ qualifications with success in algebra in middle school, examining the transition into 9th-grade math for students in Denver Public Schools to identify pathways and contexts that support Algebra I success, and evaluating implementation of an initiative designed to ensure the implementation of high-quality mathematics instructional materials in kindergarten through grade 8 in Nebraska.

He currently co-leads a REL Central project to develop a toolkit of classroom resources, professional development supports, and data tools to support teachers in implementing the recommendations in the What Works Clearinghouse practice guide Teaching Strategies for Improving Algebra Knowledge in Middle and High School Students. Van Dine also provides content support for a project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation that examines the efficacy and enactment of middle grades math curricula. In this role, he leads dissemination efforts focused on exploring how and why teachers make instructional adaptations and whether these adaptations are productive.

Previously, as research project director for the Kennedy Institute, Van Dine conducted extensive research and provided professional development to educators across the country in early childhood and elementary math learning trajectories through projects funded by the Institute of Education Sciences, the National Science Foundation, and the Heising-Simons Foundation. In this role, he led several projects examining children’s developing understanding of mathematics—including number sense, counting, geometry, and measurement—using methods such as teaching experiments, microgenetic analysis, and Rasch modeling. He also provided content expertise for a team that worked to develop and validate an extension of the Tools for Early Assessment of Mathematics for students in grades 3 through 5, as well as a study using rule space and poset-based adaptive testing methodologies to identify ability patterns in early mathematics to create a comprehensive mathematics ability test for children ages 3 through 7 to provide teachers with diagnostic information on a child's development of mathematics facility on 10 domains such as counting, sequencing, adding and subtracting, and measurement.

Van Dine was a middle and high school math teacher for 15 years and a secondary building administrator for four years. He has also taught elementary and secondary math methods at three universities. He holds a Ph.D. in mathematics education from the University at Buffalo, The State University of New York.