Holt Wilson

The UNC Greensboro School of Education (SOE) is pleased to announce that Dr. Holt Wilson, Associate Professor of Mathematics Education in the Department of Teacher Education and Higher Education, has been appointed as founding Faculty Co-Director for the Institute for Partnerships in Education (I-PiE).

Dr. Wilson is a lifelong North Carolinian with 20 years of experience in public education — he was a high school math teacher before returning to graduate school and joining the SOE faculty in 2010. He received his BS in Mathematics and MAEd in Mathematics Education from East Carolina University, and his PhD in Mathematics Education from NC State.

Dr. Wilson’s research focuses on understanding how teachers learn and use evidence from research in their teaching and how to design professional learning opportunities that support them in such learning. In the past decade, he has partnered with teachers, schools, and districts on a number of research and professional development projects — frequently involving SOE students — to help improve teachers’ skills by sharing evidence from research on student learning and teaching. In that process, he investigates how teachers learn about student thinking and teaching practices, and how they implement that knowledge in their classrooms.

Launching within the SOE this fall, the goal of I-PiE is to provide the necessary infrastructure and leadership to facilitate and support long-term partnerships between the SOE and education-related agencies (e.g., school districts, libraries, community organizations, etc.) across the state and beyond.

Historically, interactions between universities and education-related agencies tend to be transactional — for example, the university contacts a school district with an urgent need to conduct a research grant in a school, or a school district contacts the university with an urgent need for teacher professional development in a particular area. I-PiE aims to change that transactional model to one that is grounded in the SOE engaging school districts and other education-related agencies in an ongoing dialogue exploring their greatest problems of practice and identifying ways that UNC Greensboro education researchers and professionals can partner with these organizations in developing long-term strategies for addressing these problems.

In his new role as Faculty Co-Director of I-PiE, Dr. Wilson aims to create resources and infrastructure to facilitate collaborative work between SOE faculty and education-related agencies. He envisions I-PiE as a hub to generate and share knowledge about establishing, supporting, and sustaining productive partnerships — partnerships that strive to reduce educational inequities and benefit youth. He will support faculty in creating or growing existing partnerships, and he hopes that I-PiE will expand experiential learning opportunities for SOE students.

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Holt Wilson on his new role. We are confident that his expertise, research, and invaluable experience will make him a fantastic leader and ensure that I-PiE hits the ground running. We look forward to collaborating with Dr. Wilson and supporting new and exciting endeavors with this brand new Institute.