“Teresa is a passionate, impressive person; she will make you feel heard and seen when working with her.  When I think about working with Teresa, I think of someone who believes in the potential of others and will push you to be the best version of yourself in a supportive manner. Even when you have a bad day or you feel like you are not doing enough, she supports you and helps you focus on actionable steps. She is passionate about education and making sure math is accessible to everyone. She saw something in me that I struggled to see within myself for a long time, and to see the impact I made on my students presently can be attributed to the support and belief Teresa had in me. I would recommend this partnership to anyone who aspires to learn and grow in their profession. The level of detail and attentiveness of Teresa is unmatched. We could both see the same lesson, curriculum, or workshop, and Teresa would notice details most people miss or don’t wonder about. She is very humble and always tries to ask questions or present her thoughts in a way that allows for open discussion. Teresa is always working on herself in terms of her knowledge and growing professionally as well. I highly recommend working with her in any capacity because she will give you her all and listen to what you want to work on.”

-Musie Y., Vanderbilt math and secondary education graduate, math teacher, Metro Nashville Public Schools, Nashville, TN

Working with Teresa (Dr. Dunleavy) truly reshaped the way I see myself as a mathematician. She helped me believe in my own abilities and rewrite my narrative about what doing math looks and feels like. Under her guidance, I stopped worrying about being fast or always correct, and instead learned to embrace challenges and stay curious—even when I didn’t yet know how to solve a problem. That emphasis on the power of yet, on social justice, and on the identities we bring to mathematics was woven throughout every course I took with her. Until my time at Vanderbilt, I hadn’t realized how deeply these ideas connected to my own experiences and outlook on learning math.

I first met Teresa at Vanderbilt University in 2018, and she taught several of my courses during my time there. Her first assignment—an Introduction Letter—remains one of the most memorable. It invited us to share our stories, our relationship with math, and our lives beyond the classroom. That assignment perfectly reflects her pedagogy: human-centered, collaborative, identity-affirming, and grounded in the belief that math is for everyone.

Teresa is the best professor and teacher I have ever studied with. She helped me understand that “doing math” looks different for each of us, that there are many valid methods, and that all learners belong in mathematics. Beyond my time at Vanderbilt, she has continued to support me—offering mentorship as I navigate my teaching career and consider pursuing a PhD. She has been a trusted sounding board and a dear friend.

I am genuinely excited about the consulting work she is doing in math education, because I know firsthand how deeply she cares about students, about learners from all backgrounds, and about the power of mathematics.”

-Raven S. Vanderbilt Master’s in Secondary Education graduate, Vanderbilt-Fisk Noyce scholar, math teacher, math tutor, Atlanta area schools, Atlanta, GA

“Teresa’s work centers the knowledge of teachers and students. Before my partnership with Teresa, I thought of classroom research as research on students and teachers. After my work with her, Teresa helped shift my view of education research as research in partnership with teachers and students.

One of my favorite things about working with Teresa is how there is joy and laughter alongside the work we do together. Teresa also not only focuses on equity and justice in the classroom, but also in life. In our work together in dismantling racism in mathematics, we always check in with each other when perfectionism creeps up in our conversations. She has taught me how to be critical of the world around me as a teacher, researcher, and learner. I recommend anyone interested in a humanizing yet critical partnership to reach out to Teresa; she has shaped how I understand education partnerships!”

-Michelle, L., high school math, Knowles Fellow, research partner, Oakland area schools, Oakland, CA

Over this past summer (2025) I participated in my school’s summer math professional development. It was facilitated and led by Teresa. I just started my new position and joined in the summer training to meet and work with my new colleagues. I appreciate Teresa’s clear goals with actionable work, which led to the co-creation of our Math Collaboration Binder. Our time together allowed me to be vulnerable and explore together what we dream of how math exploration would look like in our class and in our school. I found our time together extremely useful and looked forward to collaborating with each other. Not only did we discuss our vision, but we also incorporated ways to collaborate with other adults in our classes and support Multilingual learners in math.”

- Eva L., ML Math Teacher, Seattle Public Schools, Seattle, WA

Before meeting Teresa, I had been teaching math in the Seattle area for 7 years. Though I had taken many great trainings and had been involved in other coaching cycles, my 1.5 years of coaching work with Teresa has been the most impactful work of my career. We worked on how to select and facilitate worthwhile math tasks, focusing on providing access for all learners including SPED and multi-lingual learners. We developed templates that I use to make sure that all students access the important math thinking of my lessons. And we worked on classroom culture with a focus on addressing status imbalances and bringing joy to learning math. 

What stands out about working with Teresa is that whenever we worked on a problem of practice I was having, together we would develop strategies, frameworks, and solutions that would stick with me once we moved on. Teresa didn’t solve problems for me, but instead coached me to better understand why I was having challenges and when we found success together, I was empowered to continue having success after we moved on. We always used our time well. Teresa brings in a wealth of knowledge and experience, and also has a keen eye for observation and would listen and respond to the goals I had for my teaching practice. My classroom became more joyful, students were more engaged, more students identified as successful mathematicians, and test scores went up.