Karisma Morton

Faculty, Teacher Education and Administration

Associate Professor

Matthews Hall 205-E

Dr. Karisma Morton is an Associate Professor of Mathematics Education. She is a former high school mathematics teacher who currently teaches primarily undergraduate and graduate mathematics education courses. Her scholarship can be categorized within three main strands: 1) identifying inequities in students’ opportunities to learn rigorous mathematics in secondary schools in the US, 2) highlighting the need for and impact of curriculum focused on the critical consciousness development of preservice mathematics teachers, and 3) understanding the factors that shape elementary preservice mathematics teacher preparation.

Dr. Morton’s scholarship has been published in top-tier and highly regarded international and national mathematics education and education journals including the Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, Mathematics Teacher Educator, Educational Researcher, AERA Open, and the Canadian Journal of Science, Mathematics and Technology Education. Findings from her scholarship also extend beyond academia and into public facing venues. For instance, her research has been featured in Education Week, on mathematics education podcasts (e.g., Math Ed Podcast by Samuel Otten, Math Learning Center: Rounding Up Podcast) and UNT’s North Texan alumni magazine. She has contributed to K-6 equity-based mathematics curriculum (i.e., Bridges) and other materials accessible by classroom teachers and other stakeholders. She serves on the editorial panels of two prominent mathematics education research journals, the Journal of Urban Mathematics Education and Mathematics Teacher Educator.

Journal Articles

Buontempo, J., Riegle-Crumb, C., & Morton, K. (2025). Exploring deficit beliefs among high school math teachers. Educational Researcher, 5(2), 111-115. https://doi.org /10.3102/0013189X251317135
Morton, K. (2024). Preparing elementary preservice teachers for anti-racist mathematics teaching. Mathematics Teacher Educator, 12(3), 235-251. https://doi.org/10.5951/MTE.2022-0011
Strachota, S., Stephens, A., Morton, K., Sung, Y., Torres, R. V., Gardiner, A. M. (2024). How tools mediate elementary students’ algebraic reasoning about evens and odds. Mathematics Education Research Journal, 36(2). 493-518. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13394-023-00457-x.
Shifrer, D., Phillippo, K., Tilbrook, N., & Morton, K. (2023) The relationship between ninth graders’ perceptions of equitable teachers and their math identity: Differences by student race and school racial composition. Sociology of Education. 96(2), 129-148.https://doi.org /10.1177/00380407221149016
Morton, K. &Mahdi, F. (2022). An intersectional look at the math autobiographies of preservice teachers, Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education in Texas, 12 (1), 11-12.
Madkins, T. C., & Morton, K. (2021). Disrupting anti-blackness with young learners in STEM: Strategies for elementary science and mathematics teacher education. Canadian Journal of Science, Mathematics and Technology Education, 21(2), 239-256.
Morton, K., &Riegle-Crumb, C. (2020). Is school racial/ethnic composition associated with content coverage in algebra?. Educational Researcher, 49(6), 441-447.
Morton, K., &Riegle-Crumb, C. (2019). Who gets in? Examining inequality in eighth-grade algebra. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 50(5), 529-554.
Riegle-Crumb, C., Morton, K., Nguyen, U., &Dasgupta, N. (2019). Inquiry-based instruction in science and mathematics in middle school classrooms: Examining its association with students’ attitudes by gender and race/ethnicity. AERA Open, 5(3), 2332858419867653.

Book Chapters

Kalinec-Craig, C., Hulme, K., Morton, K., Eddy, C., Gupta, D., Montgomery, M. (2023). Promoting Torres’ rights of the learner with elementary preservice teachers through lesson study. In Lesson Study in Preservice Mathematics and Science Teacher Education: Experiences and Perspectives from the United States. London: Routledge. https://doi.org /10.4324/9781003326434.
Gupta, D., Montgomery, M., Eddy, C., Kalinec-Craig, C., Morton, K., Hulme, K., & Mahdi, F. (2021). Developing and supporting mathematics teacher educators through virtual collaborations.In Shifting to Online Learning Through Faculty Collaborative Support (Edited Book). IGI Publisher. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-6944-3.
Riegle-Crumb, C., Morton, K., and Blanchard, S. (2020). Developing STEM ambitions: An examination of inequality by gender and race/ethnicity. In B. Polnick, B. Irby, & J. Ballenger. (Eds). Girls and Women of Color in STEM: Navigating the Double Bind. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing Inc.
Riegle-Crumb, C., Blanchard, S. & Morton, K. (2018). Gender and racial/ethnic differences in educational outcomes: Examining patterns, explanations, and new directions for research. In The Handbook for the Sociology of Education in the 21st Century, Springer International Publishing.