Lynsey Gibbons

Associate Professor

Dr. Lynsey Gibbons is an associate professor specializing in mathematics education in the School of Education at the University of Delaware. A deep respect for teachers and students drives the work of Gibbons. Her scholarship seeks to understand how teachers can be provided with rich opportunities to learn how to teach in ways that respond to children’s brilliance and position them as capable sensemakers. In her research, Gibbons seeks to explore teacher learning through an organizational and systems perspective with special attention to professional learning routines, the roles of instructional leaders such as principals and coaches, and the role of coherent learning events that occur within the system. She works alongside teachers to understand the interrelation of their instructional practices and school-wide efforts to support them. To that end, her research focuses on designing for, facilitating, and examining teacher learning; specifying the practices of those who support teacher learning; and identifying tools and resources to support instructional leaders and teacher educators.

In her most recent book, titled Learning Together: Organizing Schools for Teacher and Student Learning, Gibbons and her colleagues show school leaders and teachers how it is possible to create schools in which children’s capabilities, curiosities and identities are nurtured. The authors worked together to create the supportive, trusting, collaborative learning spaces needed in order to take the risks necessary to shift practices and see results. Drawing from their experiences in research-practice partnerships in six U.S. elementary schools, Gibbons and her co-authors show that deliberate school reorganization is the first step in meaningfully shifting practices from teacher-centered, procedure-based learning to student-centered, discussion-intensive learning that develops student agency. The book explores how a school can function through coordinating change in coach, principal and teacher practice.

Gibbons has also written numerous articles about these topics in a number of journals, including The Elementary School Journal, Journal of Mathematical Behavior, Journal of Teacher Education, Journal of School Leadership, Mathematics Teacher Education and Development, and Teaching and Teacher Education. Gibbons has also published numerous articles in Teaching Children Mathematics, Educational Leadership, and other journals whose primary audience are teachers and school leaders.

Gibbons teaches mathematics content and methods courses for prospective elementary teachers, and doctoral seminars in mathematics teaching and teacher education. Across the country, Gibbons has worked alongside district leaders, principals, and coaches to organize job-embedded professional learning for teachers. What she loves most about this work is that it situates her to continuously learn about students’ mathematical thinking and teachers’ and instructional leaders’ lived experiences.

Educational Background

• Ph.D., Mathematics Education, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
• M.Ed., Educational Leadership, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY
• B.S., Elementary Education, Asbury University, Wilmore, KY

Professional Experience

• Associate Professor, School of Education, University of Delaware, 2023-present
• Assistant Professor, School of Education, University of Delaware, 2021–2023
• Assistant Professor, Department of Teaching and Learning, Boston University, Boston, MA
• Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
• Mathematics Coach and Elementary Teacher, Lexington, KY

Recent Grants

• Gibbons, L. (PI), Purinton, A. (co-PI). Establishing a partnership among a state department of education, educators, school district leaders and researchers to enhance early childhood educators’ mathematics teaching. National Science Foundation, 2024-2025 ($100,000)
• Hiebert, J. (PI), Litke, E., Gibbons, L., Riser J., & Maxwell, V. (co-PIs). Improving Professional Development in Mathematics by Understanding the Mechanisms that Translate Teacher Learning into Student Learning. National Science Foundation, 2021–2025. ($2,995,768)
• Gibbons, L. (PI), Manz, E., Kavanagh, S., Wilhelm, A. (co-PIs). Understanding How Elementary Teachers Take Up Discussion Practices to Promote Disciplinary Learning and Equity. James S. McDonnell Foundation, 2018–2022 ($2,500,000).
• Cohen, J., Jones, N. (PIs), Berry, R., Gibbons, L., Wong, V. (co-PIs). Collaborative Research: Leveraging Simulations in Preservice Preparation to Improve Mathematics Teacher for Students with Disabilities. National Science Foundation, 2020–2024 ($3,000,000).
• Chapin, S. (PI), Gibbons, L. (co-PI). The Elementary Mathematics Project. National Science Foundation, 2016–2021 ($2,000,000).

Recent Professional Awards

• Early Career Award, Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators, 2021