Dr. Nicki Newton

About

Dr. Nicki Newton

I'm a math coach and author who still works inside classrooms every week. Most of what I write started as something a teacher and I tried on a Tuesday and then figured out how to do better.

I'm Dr. Nicki Newton, author of 40+ books and a math coach with 30+ years in classrooms. I'm the bridge between what the research says and what we actually do on Monday morning.

Follow Dr. Nicki

Dr. Nicki Newton, K-8 mathematics author and consultant
40+
books published
30+
years in classrooms
Ed.D.
Teachers College, Columbia

Biography

The work

I work with schools and districts across the country on elementary math: guided math, math workstations, problem solving, fact fluency, and the curriculum mapping that holds it all together. The through-line is small groups and the time to meet students where they actually are, rather than where a pacing guide says they should be.

I try to be in a classroom every week. Not observing from the back, but teaching, co-teaching, and planning with the teachers I'm supporting. It's the only way I know to keep the books honest.

Before the books

I taught elementary school, middle school, and graduate school. I spent several years as a bilingual teacher and a staff developer, which is where I picked up the background in sheltered instruction and strategies for English language learners that still shapes how I think about access to math.

At Teachers College, Columbia, I worked with Heidi Hayes Jacobs facilitating the Curriculum Mapping and Interdisciplinary Curriculum Institutes for several years.

In the academy

I've taught graduate courses in elementary curriculum, math methods, and special education for CUNY, MCNY, Mercy College, and Cambridge College. Teaching the courses keeps me current with the research rather than just citing it.

I've presented at national and international education conferences, including as an invited speaker for the NEA, and worked on an interdisciplinary social studies curriculum project for the AFT.

Beyond the classroom

A lot of my work happens outside instructional time: setting up study groups and math lab sites where teachers watch and discuss real lessons together, and building the home-school bridge through Family Math Nights, Family Math Carnivals, Math and Muffin Mornings, and a Homework Club for parents.

I'm interested in how math gets taught elsewhere, and I've researched education in Denmark, Guatemala, and India.

Credentials

Ed.D., Teachers College, Columbia University
Curriculum and Teaching, specialising in Teacher Education and Curriculum Development.
Ed.M., Teachers College, Columbia University
Department of Curriculum and Teaching.
Contributor, Reveal Math
McGraw-Hill's elementary mathematics program.
Invited speaker, NEA
Plus an interdisciplinary curriculum project for the AFT.

What I work on

  • Guided Math
  • Math Workshop
  • Math Running Records
  • Fact fluency
  • Problem solving
  • Math workstations
  • Early numeracy
  • Math intervention
  • Curriculum mapping
  • English language learners

Across 6 book series and 40+ titles, mostly with Routledge and Corwin, plus contributions to McGraw-Hill's Reveal Math.

See every book

What teachers say

My students went from guessing to explaining how they see the math. Dr. Nicki gave me something simple enough to use on Monday and strong enough to change my whole year.
Maria Delgado, 3rd-grade teacher, Lincoln Elementary

Find me elsewhere

These are the properties that are actually mine. If it isn't listed here, it isn't me.

Bring Dr. Nicki to your school.

A full day with your staff, a focused half day on one method, or coaching across a term so the practice sticks after the workshop ends. Built around what your teachers are actually facing, not a generic deck.

Get in touch

Tell me what you're working on. I read every one of these.