Email
kelewis2@uw.edu
Phone
206-221-4738
Office
102S Miller

Research Interests

Development of Children & Youth
Developmental Disabilities
Learning Sciences & Human Development
Qualitative Research Methods
Science & Mathematics
Teacher Education & Research

Katherine Lewis

Associate Professor

I am a researcher and educator who is fundamentally concerned with designing accessible educational contexts – particularly for students with disabilities. 

My primary line of research is focused on students with mathematics learning disability (i.e., dyscalculia). These students have a neurological difference in how their brains process numerical information that leads to significant difficulties learning and doing mathematics. Unlike most research on mathematics learning disabilities, I reject the deficit model and adopt a disability studies approach.  I believe that individuals are not disabled by their physical, sensory, or neurological differences, but by inaccessible spaces and contexts.  For students with mathematics learning disabilities, standard mathematical tools may not be equally accessible.  In my work, I aim to identify the ways in which students’ unconventional understanding and use of mathematical representations results in issues of access.  This theoretical orientation – informed by a Vygotskian perspective of disability – involves identifying students’ unconventional understandings as they occur in authentic learning environments, evaluating the accessibility of tools and instruction, and considering the ways students compensate to gain access. My research sits at the intersection of mathematics education and special education and begins to address the epistemological, theoretical, and pedagogical divides that have historically separated these fields.

My second line of research is concerned with designing educational supports for foster and adoptive parents.  Children in the child welfare system, often struggle academically, and foster/adoptive parents must figure out how to support their children inside and outside of school.  I am interested in working with foster/adoptive parents to problem solve and design innovative tools to support their children academically.  I have created a website: which provides resources for foster/adoptive parents during this time of home schooling and distance learning.  

My third area of interest – one that I am only beginning to investigate – involves understanding the unique role that American Sign Language can play in supporting Deaf students’ understanding of mathematics concepts.

For more details about my work and recaps of my current research, please go to my research website ()

(she/her/hers)

Education
Ph.D., M.A., Education, University of California, Berkeley
M.Sc., Multimedia Systems, Trinity College, Dublin
B.A. Psychology, University of Notre Dame

Multimedia

Fellowships, honors and awards
  • Linking Research and Practice Outstanding Publication Award from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 2018
  • National Academy of Education - Spencer Postdoctoral Fellow, 2015
  • Early Career Publication Award of the Special Interest Group on Research in Mathematics, 2015
  • Spencer Dissertation Fellowship, 2010
Publications

Lewis, K. E., Sweeney, G., Thompson, G. M., & Adler, R. (2020). . Journal of Mathematical Behavior. doi: 10.1016/j.jmathb.2020.100797

Lewis, K. E. & Lynn, D. L. (2018). . Cognition & Instruction 36(4), 424-459. doi: 10.1080/07370008.2018.1491581.

Lewis, K. E. & Lynn, D. L. (2018).  . Investigations in Mathematics Learning 10(3), 159-172. doi: 10.1080/19477503.2018.1444927.

Lewis, K. E. & Lynn, D. L. (2018).  .  Special Issue of Education Sciences on “Dispelling Myths about Mathematics” edited by Jo Boaler. 8, 63. doi:10.3390/educsci8020063 -- open access --

Lewis, K. E. & Fisher, M. B. (2018). . Intervention in School and Clinic. 53(5). 283-291. doi: 10.1177/1053451217736864

Lynch, S. R., Hunt, J. H., Lewis, K. E. (2018). .  Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School. 23(4),194-201.

Lewis, K. E. (2017).  . Journal of the Learning Sciences, 26(2). 320-365. doi: 10.1080/10508406.2016.1256810

Lewis, K. E. (2016). .  Learning Disability Quarterly 39(4), 199-212. doi:10.1177/0731948716658063

Lewis, K. E. (2016). . Infancia y Aprendizaje, 39(4), 812-857. doi:10.1080/02103702.2016.1215085

Lewis, K. E. & Fisher, M. B. (2016). . Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 47(4), 338-371. doi:10.5951/jresematheduc.47.4.0338

Schoenfeld, A. H. & Lewis, K. E., (2016). . Journal of Education, 196(2), 63-69.

Lewis, K. E. (2014). . Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 45(3), 351–396.

Mazzocco, M. M. M., Myers, G. F., Lewis, K. E., Hanich, L. B., & Murphy, M. M. (2013). . Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 115(2), 371–387. doi:10.1016/j.jecp.2013.01.005

Lewis, K. E. (2010). . Learning Disabilities a Contemporary Journal 8(1), pp. 21-30.

Saxe, G.B., Earnest, D., Sitabkhan, Y., Haldar, L.C., Lewis, K.E., & Zheng, Y. (2010). . Cognition and Instruction, 28(4), pp. 433-474.