Professor Paola Sztajn Awarded NC State’s 2021 Alumni Association Outstanding Research Award, Inducted into Research Leadership Academy

Paola Sztajn, Ph.D., a professor in the NC State College of Education’s Department of Teacher Education and Learning Sciences (TELS), has been awarded NC State’s 2021 Alumni Association Outstanding Research Award.

Sztajn is one of five NC State faculty members who will receive the honor during a virtual award ceremony on April 13, 2021.

As a recipient of the award, Sztajn will also be inducted into the Research Leadership Academy, a group comprised of NC State’s most outstanding researchers and mentors across various fields. Faculty inducted into the Research Leadership Academy are chosen based on their active engagement and record of research and mentoring of faculty.

“This is the highest research recognition at NC State and I am honored to see my work recognized in this way. I am particularly excited about the induction into the Research Leadership Academy given the mentoring role this group plays,” Sztajn said. “This is humbling and exciting at the same time, and I look forward to working with colleagues in the academy to further strengthen research at NC State.”

Sztajn has previously served as TELS department head and associate dean for research and innovation in the College of Education, and as a special assistant for faculty research and development with the Office of the Provost and the Office of Research and Innovation. She is currently serving as the interim associate vice provost for academic personnel and policy for NC State while continuing her role as a professor in the Department of Teacher Education and Learning Sciences.

Sztajn’s research focuses on practicing elementary teachers’ mathematics knowledge and professional development with a focus on the ways in which practicing teachers acquire and continue to develop the knowledge needed to teach high-quality mathematics to all students.

She recently authored Activating Math Talk: 11 Purposeful Techniques for Your Elementary Students, which draws on materials developed through Project AIM — a professional development program she first launched in 2010 to help elementary school teachers learn to promote mathematics discourse for all learners through strategies adapted from literacy instruction.