About Bill

Math, your students can do it!

If math is not one of your students’ favorite subjects, let Bill Hanlon change that. Bill will train teachers to take the magic and mystery out of math and replace it with understanding, knowledge, comfort, and humor by directly linking topics to skills and concepts learned in grades K through 8 and outside experiences.

Bill understands the importance of teachers and the impact they have on student achievement. He believes that if classroom teachers can link concepts to arithmetic and outside experiences, then students will be more comfortable and successful in their knowledge, understanding, and ability to apply mathematics.

Bill Hanlon, Director of the Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program, has been an educator for over thirty years. His educational experiences include teaching at the junior high, senior high, and college levels. He was the coordinator of Clark County School District’s Math/Science Institute and was responsible for K-12 math audits. He served as vice president of the Nevada State Board of Education, Regional Director of the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) and as a member of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) States Partnership Board. Bill was also a member of Nevada’s standards writing team in mathematics, and served on the LearningFirst Alliance Review Team of the NCTM’s standards. He hosts a television series, “Algebra, you can do it!” and taught math at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, to prospective school teachers.

Bill’s knowledge of mathematics combined with his knowledge and insight of working with students living in poverty brings uniqueness to his brand of professional development in mathematics.
Based on the foundation that students should feel comfortable in their knowledge and understanding of the mathematics, Bill provides professional development for teachers that will assist them in helping all students succeed in mathematics.

Increasing student achievement does not just happen. Classroom teachers and administrators must work to achieve that objective. That work should be reflected in classroom practices.

There are no shortcuts, Bill’s underlying premise in increasing student achievement is what works is work.

In all Bill’s sessions, he applies two standards; the Common Sense Standard and what he refers to as the My Kid Standard.

While his presentations are based on educational research, he brings those ideas to the classroom level and appeals to teachers’ common sense. The My Kid standard simply states that classroom teachers should treat their students the same way they would like other teachers to treat their own sons or daughters.

What works is work!