Shakiyya Bland

Shakiyya Bland

Fellowship Placement: U.S. Department of Interior
Hometown: Lawrence, KS

Dr. Shakiyya Bland serves as a Secondary Mathematics Educator, District Mathematics Curriculum Instructional Learning Coach, and Equity Affiliate. She taught elementary and secondary students for more than ten years and is the Lawrence Public Schools 2015 Secondary Educator of the Year and 2019 Champion of Equity. Shakiyya earned her Bachelor of Science in Education and Mathematics at the University of Kansas and her Ed.D. in Educational Leadership at Northcentral University. She published her research on secondary educators’ use of guided inquiry to increase student engagement in mathematics. The research study supports authentic problem-based and community-centered mathematics. In 2018, Shakiyya began consulting on the topic of inquiry-based mathematics and partnered with the Kansas State Department of Education as a Culturally Relevant Pedagogy Certified Consultant, facilitating professional learning workshops about culturally relevant pedagogy throughout the state of Kansas.

Shakiyya is a strong advocate for social justice mathematics. She wrote a curriculum unit about how geometric modeling is applicable to address food apartheid and promote food sustainability, which Corwin Press published in March 2020, High School Mathematics Lessons to Explore, Understand, and Respond to Social Injustice. As a consulting educator with BetterLesson, Inc. Master Teacher Project and Balance the Equation: A Grand Challenge for Algebra 1, Shakiyya produces culturally responsive teaching and learning strategies to support all educators and scholars to see themselves as valuable contributors to mathematics. Shakiyya plans to engage in future research of her dissertation topic investigating the effectiveness of professional development programs and school support variables for integrating guided inquiry, STEM literacy, equity, and identity at the secondary level.