B.S. Mathematics, Morgan State University 

M.S. Mathematics, Morgan State University 

Ph.D. Mathematics Education, University of Maryland

Dr. Roni Ellington has spent the last 25 years cultivating herself as a nationally recognized transformative transdisciplinary scholar, researcher, STEM leader, and professional development expert. Trained as a mathematics educator, Dr. Roni Ellington has authored several scholarly articles on STEM education, parental involvement, STEM professional development and navigating the STEM pipeline, particularly for minority students. Dr. Ellington is a leading expert on how to cultivate student’s success in mathematics and STEM related disciplines. She is currently an Associate Professor of Mathematics Education and the former Coordinator of the Graduate Programs in Mathematics Education at Morgan State University. She has also worked as a high school mathematics teacher, mathematics lecturer and mathematics education consultant. She is the owner of the Transforming STEM Network, an organization committed to providing transformative education models to schools and school districts that promote diversity and inclusion in STEM-related disciplines and is co-owner of Evoklife, a well-being company that develops transformative programs for individuals and corporations to maximize their productivity without sacrificing their wellbeing. Through her work in Evoklife, she has worked with many corporations to promote diversity, equity and inclusion and transforming company culture. 

Her research has been featured in The Negro Educational Review, Journal of Negro Education CBE-Life Sciences Education, Equity and Quality in Mathematics Education and Progress in Education, Volume II, Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem Based Learning, the American Evaluation Journal and Problems, Resources, and Issues in Mathematics Undergraduate Studies (PRIMUS). Ellington has presented her research at various national and local conferences including the annual meeting of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), the American Educational Research Association (AERA), and the National Association of Science Teachers (NSTA).  She has also authored several book chapters on equity and diversity in STEM education, culturally responsive teaching in undergraduate STEM education and transformative practices in mathematics and STEM education.

Dr. Ellington has been featured as a TEDx Baltimore Speaker in 2013 and her moving and thought-provoking talk on the future of STEM education was so well received that she was highlighted as is one of the featured speakers on the TEDx website. Her authenticity, wisdom, and straight talk about what is needed to transform STEM education from exclusive to inclusive inspired a standing ovation. She has been featured speaker for several conferences and programs including the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) regional conferences, the Texas Science Leadership Association National Conference, University of Maryland, Baltimore’s (UMB) Black History Month celebration, and the Mathematical Association of America. 

Her research, teaching and innovative frameworks on rethinking STEM education inspires and ignites global audiences. She has given talks at various local and national conferences presenting her transformative framework for STEM education and her work promoting diversity, equity and inclusion in the STEM pipeline. Her message has been well received, and she is sort after speaker and scholar. 

She is currently a principal Investigator on several NSF funded projects including the SEMINAL grant which is focused on incorporating culturally responsive teaching into university mathematics classrooms, the Maryland Collaborative of Research in Urban STEM Education, and the STEM Context Matters Project. She also served as Co- PI on the Bessie Coleman Project, using computer modeling and flight simulations to create STEM pathways. Her collaboration with the American Institutes for Research (AIR) has just been awarded an NSF grant of close to 5,000,000 dollars to build and administer a research hub for current and future NSF principal investigators in the ECR BCER programs.    Each of these projects are designed to equip faculty, students, and STEM teacher leaders in ways that forward research and practice in STEM education and promote inclusivity and innovative research in STEM education. 

Dr. Ellington has written several articles on mathematics and STEM education, and she is a co-author of the book Capitalizing on Culture: Successful Patterns of Parental Participation for African American Students, which highlights the ways in which parents can use their own human and social capital to advocate for their children and help foster their success in STEM related disciplines. She has just completed a book chapter reflecting her transformative framework for STEM education. She recently served as a co-editor and contributor on the book Fostering Computational Thinking among Underrepresented students in STEM.  She is currently working on a book that aims to help schools, school districts and non-profit organizations implement this framework into their STEM focused programs. 

Research Interests: Experiences of high achieving mathematics  students; STEM  education, mathematics  curriculum, instruction,  and teacher professional  development.

Selected Publications: 

Welsh, B., Ellington, R., Shockley, K, & Prime,  G. (in-press ) The Making of Scholar  

Transformation Theory, Journal of Negro  Education. 

Ellington, R. & Leonard, J. ( 2022) Professional Development that fosters computational thinking and high-quality teaching for students of color.  In Leonard et al. Fostering computational  thinking among underrepresented students in  STEM: Strategies for supporting racially  equitable computing. New York: Routledge, p  110 - 132