Dr. Tazaz Named an Early-Career Research Fellow in Education Research

Amanda Tazaz is a Senior Research Associate at the Learning Systems Institute (LSI) at Florida State University. She has been with LSI since January of 2013. Previously she served as a graduate assistant at LSI from October of 2011. Dr. Tazaz earned her Ph. D. in Biogeochemical Oceanography from Florida State University in 2013, and is currently pursuing a Masters in Applied Economics (2018). She holds bachelor's degrees in both Economics and Marine Biology.

Dr. Tazaz serves as the Project Director for both the Replicating the CGI Experience in Diverse Environments and the FCR-STEMLearn: Foundations for Success in STEM randomized control trials, where her primary role is to support the overall program implementation and evaluation. She also serves as the fidelity of implementation developer on the Replicating the CGI Experience in Diverse Environments RCT study, where her primary role is to develop and validate a fidelity of implementation measure for CGI PD workshops.

In her free time, Dr. Tazaz is an avid runner, gardener, and environmentalist.

Projects:

• Principal Investigator. GP-IN: Bridging the Gap into Geosciences for Underrepresented Pre-college Populations through Experiential Learning Opportunities (2023-2025).
• Principal Investigator. The Successful Start: Cognitively Guided Instruction (2023-2025).
• Project Director. FCR-STEMLearn: Foundations for Success in STEM (2014-2017).
• Project Director. Replicating the CGI Experience in Diverse Environments (2012-2017)
• Graduate Research Assistant. Integrating STEM into secondary school teaching (2011-2013)

Selected Publications:

• Schoen, R. C., Bray, W., Wolfe, C. M., Tazaz, A., & Nielsen, L. (in press). Developing an assessment instrument to measure early elementary teachers’ mathematical knowledge for teaching. The Elementary School Journal.
• Schoen, R., LaVenia, M., Champagne, Z., Farina, K., & Tazaz, A. (2016). Mathematics Performance and Cognition (MPAC) interview: Measuring first and second grade student achievement in number, operations, and equality in spring 2015 (Report No. 2016–02). Learning Systems Institute. Tallahassee, FL.
• King, L., Dyehouse, M., Tazaz, A., Schoen, R., Blumsack, S., & Wilson, R. (2013). Clarifying Water Quality: A CPALMS Lesson Study Resource Kit for Math and Science Grades 6-7 (Lesson Study Resource Kit ID#43517). Tallahassee: CPALMS/Florida State University. Retrieved from http://www.cpalms.org/Public/PreviewResourceLessonStudy/Preview/43517

Select Presentations:

• Schoen, R. C., Tazaz, A. M., & Levi, L. (accepted). Replicating the CGI Experiment: Description of a Professional Development Model and Results of Recent Randomized Controlled Trials. Presentation to be given at Cognitively Guided Instruction 9th Biennial National Conference, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington. June, 2017.
• Schoen, R. C., LaVenia, M., & Tazaz, A. (presented 2017, March). Effects of a two-year Cognitively Guided Instruction professional development program on first and second grade student achievement in mathematics. Presentation to be given at SREE Annual Conference, Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness, Washington, DC. March, 2017.
• Champagne, Z., Schoen, R., & Tazaz, A. (presented 2016, April). What’s the Difference? Two Important Ways to Think About Subtraction. Presentation at National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Annual Conference, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, San Francisco, CA.
• Ganley, C., Schoen, R., LaVenia, M., Tazaz, A., & Razzouk, R. (presented 2016, April). Exploring relations between teacher math anxiety and other teacher characteristics. Presentation at American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting, American Educational Research Association, Washington, DC.
• Schoen, R., LaVenai, M., & Tazaz, A. (presented 2015, December). Measuring early teachers’ knowledge and beliefs about mathematics teaching and learning. Poster presentation at IES Annual Meeting, Institute for Educational Sciences, Washington, DC.
• Bray, W., Schoen, R., Nielsen, L., Wolfe, C., & Tazaz, A. (presented 2015, February). Developing a Measure of Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching for Primary Grades Teachers. Presentation at Annual conference of the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (AMTE), Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators, Orlando, FL.
• Schoen, R., Dixon, J., Tazaz, A., & Childs, K. (presented 2015, February). Investigating associations among professional development, mathematical knowledge for teaching, and pedagogical content beliefs. Presentation at Annual conference of the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (AMTE), Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators, Orlando, FL.
• Tazaz, A., Wilson, R., Schoen, R., Blumsack, S., King, L., & Dyehouse, M. (presented 2013, December). Utilizing Model Eliciting Activities (MEA’s) to engage middle school teachers and students in storm water management practices to mitigate human impacts of land development. Presentation at American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall 2013 Meeting, American Geophysical Union, San Francisco, CA.