Yolanda A. Parker

Dr. Yolanda A. Parker is a mathematics educator with over 25 years of teaching experience and a long-standing faculty appointment in the Mathematics Department at Tarrant County College–South Campus, where she primarily teaches statistics and mathematics-for-teachers courses. She holds a B.S. in Applied Mathematics from Texas A&M University, an M.A. in Liberal Studies from Dartmouth College, and a Ph.D. in Mathematics Education from Illinois State University. Her research interests include the effectiveness of mathematics manipulatives with adult learners, algebra teacher self-efficacy, and culturally relevant, cognitively demanding mathematics tasks.

Parker is a co-author of Engaging in Culturally Relevant Math Tasks, K–5: Fostering Hope in the Elementary Classroom and Engaging in Culturally Relevant Math Tasks, 6–12: Fostering Hope in the Middle and High School Classroom (Corwin Mathematics Series), both focused on designing high-level, culturally relevant mathematics tasks that connect students’ learning to their communities and lived experiences. She has been recognized as one of the 2017 “Hidden Figures of Dallas: Top Women of Color in S.T.E.M.” by the Dallas/Fort Worth Professionals chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers and has been featured in Women Who Count: Honoring African American Women Mathematicians; she also received Tarrant County College’s 2017