Katherine Puckett Layton is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

mathematics educator and the author of mathematics textbooks.

Education and career

Layton received a bachelor's degree in mathematics from the

University of California at Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the Ca ...

(UCLA) and later obtained a master's degree in education from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. In 1960, shortly after graduating from UCLA, Layton began her long teaching career at

Beverly Hills High School Beverly Hills High School (shortly as BHHS or Beverly) is a public high school in Beverly Hills, California. The other public high school in Beverly Hills is Moreno High School, a small alternative school located on Beverly Hills High School's c ...

Beverly Hills, California Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hills ...

. During the seventies, Layton served as chair of the mathematics department and was involved with the students both in the classroom and through

Mu Alpha Theta Mu Alpha Theta () is an International mathematics honor society for high school and two-year college students. As of June 2015, it served over 108,000 student members in over 2,200 chapters in the United States and 20 foreign countries. Its main ...

, the honor society for high schools and two-year colleges. Layton served as visiting lecturer at

Clemson University Clemson University () is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university near Clemson, South Carolina, United States. - The blue-shaded pattern denotes university property. This shows Clemson University is ''out ...

Clemson, South Carolina Clemson () is a city in Pickens County, South Carolina, Pickens and Anderson County, South Carolina, Anderson counties in the U.S. state of South Carolina. Clemson is adjacent to Clemson University, - The blue-shaded pattern denotes university pr ...

and from 1986–1987, in the UCLA mathematics department. After retiring from Beverly Hills High School in 1999. Layton served two years as a distinguishe educator at the UCLA Graduate School of Education. Layton made two trips to China to evaluate educational efforts in that country. Findings of the second trip were presented at the convention of the

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Founded in 1920, The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) is a professional organization for schoolteachers of mathematics in the United States. One of its goals is to improve the standards of mathematics in education. NCTM holds an ...

(NCTM) at the Cervantes Convention Center in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

; Layton was one of the panelists that presented the conclusions of the envoy. Layton was a member of the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards in 1989, when they began planning to issue teaching certificates to qualified teachers. The program was designed to measure "expertise in 29 areas ranging from childhood development to foreign languages". Layton, a longtime member of the NCTM, was an invited speaker of more than 22 annual meetings and numerous regional meetings. She served on several committees of the

Mathematical Association of America The Mathematical Association of America (MAA) is a professional society that focuses on mathematics accessible at the undergraduate level. Members include university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary edu ...

(MAA) and was an invited speaker at six annual MAA meetings. In addition to serving on the board of the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards, Layton served as a member of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, the

College Entrance Examination Board The College Board, styled as CollegeBoard, is an American not-for-profit organization that was formed in December 1899 as the College Entrance Examination Board (CEEB) to expand access to higher education. While the College Board is not an asso ...

, and the Mathematical Science Education Board.

Recognition

In 1990, Layton was honored for exemplary teaching with the Presidential Award for Teaching Excellence. The award is sponsored by the

National Science Foundation The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...

and honors two science and two mathematics teachers from each state in the U.S. In 2003, the

Association for Women in Mathematics The Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM) is a professional society whose mission is to encourage women and girls to study and to have active careers in the mathematical sciences, and to promote equal opportunity for and the equal treatment o ...

(AWM) recognized Layton for "her significant contributions to mathematics education, her outstanding achievements as a teacher and scholar, and her role in bridging mathematics education communities" by selecting her to receive the 2003

Louise Hay Award The Louise Hay Award is a mathematics award planned in 1990 and first issued in 1991 by the Association for Women in Mathematics in recognition of contributions as a math educator. The award was created in honor of Louise Hay. Recipients The fo ...

for Contributions to Mathematics Education. In that same year, Layton was chosen as the AWM/MAA Falconer Lecturer; the title of her lecture was "What I Learned in Forty Years in Beverly Hills 90212". The Etta Z. Falconer Lecture, which includes both the lecture and an award, honors "women who have made distinguished contributions to the mathematical sciences or mathematics education".

Selected books

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Layton, Katherine Puckett Living people American mathematics educators 20th-century American educators 21st-century American educators 21st-century American women educators University of California, Los Angeles alumni Harvard Graduate School of Education alumni Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century American women educators