Profile picture of Jennifer Ruef

Jennifer Ruef

Associate Professor
Critical and Sociocultural Studies in Education, Curriculum & Teaching, Curriculum and Teacher Education, Educational Foundations
Phone: 541-346-2847
Office: 126B Lokey Education Bldg

Biography

Jennifer Ruef studies and teaches about equitable math instruction. She researches how students identify themselves, or are identified by others, as being “good at math;” and public sensemaking, the ways students collaborate to co-construct convincing and powerful arguments, and Detracking for Equitable Math Instruction (DEMI). Her decades of experience as a classroom teacher inform her research, and in turn, her research is reflected in her work with mathematics teachers and students. 

Education

Ph.D., 2016, Stanford University
Major: Curriculum and Teacher Education, Secondary Mathematics Education

M.S., 2005, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Major: Curriculum and Instruction, Secondary Mathematics Education

B.S., 1990, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Major: Secondary Mathematics Education
Certification: Secondary Mathematics Education, Grades 6-12

Honors and Awards

2024 NSF Career Award: Inviting all 21st century problem-solvers: Building equity by de-tracking middle school mathematics instruction. National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Program. Principal Investigator, Jennifer Ruef ($1,036,989).

2022 Excellence in Teaching, Early Career, University of Oregon College of Education

2017 Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (AMTE) Service, Teaching, and Research (STaR) Fellowship

2015 Diversity Dissertation Research Opportunity Grant, Stanford Vice Provost for Education

2015-2016 Fellowship, Stanford Graduate Voice and Influence Program

2015 Dissertation Support Grant Stanford Graduate School of Education

2009 Madison Metropolitan School District Distinguished Service Award/High School Teacher of the Year 

Publications

Refereed Journal Articles
(Student authors indicated by */Partnering practitioner or tribal elder authors indicated by ∞)

Jilk, L. M., Ruef, J. L., & *Torres, A. (2024). Inclusive classrooms and assigning competence special issue on Complex Instruction. Intercultural Education, 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1080/14675986.2024.2426934

Sun, K. L. & Ruef, J. (2023). Examining and Conceptualizing the Relationship Between Teacher Praise and the Co-construction of Mathematical Competence in Classrooms. Journal of Mathematical Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmathb.2023.101065

Ruef, J. L., & Shepard, R. (2022). Relational equity: Adapting an elementary mathematics teaching methods course to online contexts. International Electronic Journal of Mathematics Education, 17(4), em0699. https://doi.org/10.29333/iejme/12224

Ruef, J., Willingham, J. C., *Ahearn, M. (2022). Math and equity in the time of COVID: Teaching challenges and successes. International Electronic Journal of Mathematics Education.17(2), em0681. https://doi.org/10.29333/iejme/11818

Sun, K. L., Ruef, J., Stoehr, K. J., *Ahearn, M. (2022). Teaching preservice mathematics teachers in the time of COVID: What’s worth keeping? Journal of Humanistic Mathematics. 12(1), 187-209. https://scholarship.claremont.edu/jhm/vol12/iss1/14

Anderson, R. K., Ruef, J., Reigh, E., Chavez, R., Williamson, P., Villa III, A. (2021). “Math is so much more.” The design, implementation, and outcomes of an elective mathematics methods course. Teacher Education Quarterly. 48(4). 28-51. https://www.proquest.com/docview/2610109371?pq-origsite=gscholar&fromopenview=true

Ruef, J., & Jacob, M. (2021). Fractional Humans: How decolonizing the learning of mathematics can heal. For the Learning of Mathematics. 41(1). 14-17. https://flm-journal.org/index.php?do=show&lang=en&vol=41&num=1

Ruef, J. (2021). How Ms. Mayen and her students co-constructed "good at math." Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 52(2), 152-188. https://doi.org/10.5951/jresematheduc-2020-0264

Jacob, M., Gonzales, K., Chappell Belcher, D., Ruef, J. & *RunningHawk Johnson, S. (2020) Indigenous cultural values counter the damages of white settler colonialism, Environmental Sociology. DOI: 10.1080/23251042.2020.1841370

Ruef, J., & Torres, A. (2020). A menu of risk-taking Scaffolds. Mathematics Teacher: Teaching and Learning PK-12. 113(9), 723-730. https://doi.org/10.5951/MTLT.2019.0091

Ruef, J., Jacob, M., *Walker, G. K., & Beavert, V. (2020) Why Indigenous languages matter for mathematics education: A case study of Ichishkíin. Education Studies in Mathematics.104(3), 313-332. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-020-09957-0

*Lo, M., & Ruef, J. (2020). Student or teacher? A look at how students facilitate public sensemaking during collaborative groupwork. Journal of Urban Mathematics Education. 13(1), 15-33. https://journals.tdl.org/jume

Ruef, J. (2020). Visions of the possible: Using drawings to elicit and support visions of teaching mathematics. Mathematics Teacher Educator, 8(2), 59-80. https://doi.org/10.5951/mte-2019-0010

Ruef, J., Sweeny, S., and Willingham, J. C. (2020). Re-envisioning "good at math:" A case study of positive transformation. International Journal of Gender, Science, and Technology. 11(3), 383-393. http://genderandset.open.ac.uk/index.php/genderandset/article/view/624

Ruef, J. (2020). What gets checked at the door? Embracing students' complex math identities. Journal of Humanistic Mathematics. 10(1), 22-38. https://doi.org/10.5642/jhummath.202001.04

Ruef, J., *RunningHawk Johnson, S., Jacob, M., Jansen, J., and Beavert, V. (2020). Why STEM needs Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge. International Journal of Gender, Science, and Technology. 11(3), 429-439. http://genderandset.open.ac.uk/index.php/genderandset/article/view/662

Editorial Work

Ruef, J. (2021, May 27). Regarding schools, what’s worth keeping? The Register Guard. https://www.registerguard.com/story/opinion/columns/2021/05/27/guest-view-regarding-schools-whats-worth-keeping-education-pandemic/7432951002/

Ruef, J., Elliott, R. & Thanheiser, E. (2021, March 7). Antiracist math education adds up to better results for students. The Oregonian. https://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/2021/03/opinion-antiracist-math-education-adds-up-to-better-results-for-students.html?fbclid=IwAR04W5o13QR_HdN-F9yp7mT1ranX9QX54vAiVaSSYE6VKzS-2z-d20RCgms

Ruef, J. (2018, November 6). How to help students heal from 'math trauma.' Education Week Teacher. https://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2018/11/06/how-to-help-students-heal-from-math.html

Ruef, J. (2018, November 1). Think you're bad at math? You may suffer from 'math trauma.' The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/thinkyoure-bad-at-math-you-may-suffer-from-math-trauma-104209

Ruef, J. (2018, March 12). Celebrating Marion Walter--and other unsung female mathematicians. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/celebrating-marion-walter-and-otherunsung-female-mathematicians-92249

Ruef, J. (2018, February 28). Teachers prep for unnatural disasters--like school shootings. The San Francisco Chronicle. https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/openforum/article/Teachers-prepstudents-for-unnatural-disasters-12718142.php

Ruef, J. (2017, July 21). Wonder Woman offers new view of power structure. The San Francisco Chronicle. http://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/article/Wonder-Woman-offers-a-new-view-of-power-11305840.php