John Sutton

Professional Title
Senior Research Associate
Organization/Institution
About Me (Bio)
Dr. Sutton serves as Co-PI for the NSF-funded Examining Mathematics Coaching DRK-12 project and brings to his position more than 30 years of experience in project management, mathematics and science education reform, and project evaluation. Dr. Sutton currently serves as PI for the NSF-funded Technical Evaluation Assistance in Mathematics and Science (TEAMS) project as well as evaluator for the DRK-12 Learning Algebra and Methods for Proving (LAMP) project. Dr. Sutton served as the Evaluation Director for the Idaho, Nebraska, and New Hampshire Statewide MSP program evaluations for both mathematics and science projects, and the LaMSTI project at Louisiana State University (LSU) and the evaluation for the NSF-funded MSP Math in the Middle project at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) and continues to lead the evaluation efforts for the NebraskaMATH project at UNL. Dr. Sutton is a former Vice President of the National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics, served on the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Research Committee, and was a senior staff member of the Center on Instruction in Mathematics. Dr. Sutton also serves as the Deputy Assistant Director and Collaboration Lead for the Central Regional Education Laboratory as well as serving as the REL Central Mathematics and Science Research Alliance Lead. Dr. Sutton was a contributing author and co-editor of EdThoughts: What We Know About Mathematics Teaching and Learning and EdThoughts: What We Know About Science Teaching and Learning. He works with the RMC Research mathematics and science team on a variety of projects that include research, evaluation, technical assistance, professional development, and product development targeting teachers, leaders, faculty, and administrators from preK–postsecondary. Dr. Sutton holds a Ph.D. in Mathematics Education and School Administration, an M.A. in Mathematics Education, and a B.S. in Education with emphasis in Mathematics, all from the University of Iowa.
Keywords
Montana State University
07/15/2009

This project conducts research on knowledge that contributes to successful coaching in two domains: coaching knowledge and mathematics content knowledge. The influence of these knowledge domains on both coaches and teachers is being examined in two ways: (1) by investigating correlations between assessments of coach and teacher knowledge and practice in each domain and (2) by investigating causal effects of targeted professional development for coaches.

University of Idaho (UI)
10/01/2013

This project tests and refines a hypothetical learning trajectory and corresponding assessments, based on the collective work of 50 years of research in mathematics education and psychology, for improving students' ability to reason, prove, and argue mathematically in the context of algebra. The study produces an evidence-based learning trajectory and appropriate instruments for assessing it.