Areas of Interest

Dr. Gina Kling has served the mathematics education community in a variety of ways
throughout her career of more than two decades: as an author and developer of K-3 math
curriculum materials, as a consultant to school districts in multiple states, as a researcher
probing how to help children learn basic math facts in meaningful ways and as a college
professor.
After 20 years as an instructor teaching mathematics content and teaching methods courses at
Western Michigan University, Dr. Kling joined the Hope College faculty in 2023. She teaches
mathematics courses for future elementary school teachers and loves helping the next
generation of teachers understand how children make sense of mathematics. She feels very
blessed to work with such kind, dedicated and inquisitive students here at Hope.
Dr. Kling is a coauthor of the book Math Fact Fluency: 60+ Games and Assessment Tools to
Support Learning and Retention (2019), which provides teachers with games and tools to help
children master multiplication, addition and basic math facts. She also served as a curriculum
developer on the UChicago STEM Education team from 2011 through 2022, authoring basic
facts lessons for Grades K–3 for the fourth edition of Everyday Mathematics. She is currently a
consultant to the Michigan Department of Education Early Math Initiative, training teacher
leaders across the state on new approaches to the teaching and assessment of computational
fluency.

Areas of Expertise

For over 15 years, Dr. Kling has focused her research, writing, and professional development
efforts on improving how children learn their basic facts. She is particularly interested in
helping teachers learn to use games and visual imagery to encourage children to develop fact
strategies in meaningful ways, and in alternative assessments such as observation and
interviewing to more accurately gauge student fluency. Dr. Kling has authored or co-authored
many journal articles as well as a book on basic fact fluency and provides professional
development to schools across the country on that topic. Her current research projects focus
on using visual imagery to encourage children in grades 2–4 to develop multiplication fact
strategies and on studying how teachers use interviewing to assess fluency.

EDUCATION

• Ph.D., K–12 Mathematics Education, Western Michigan University, 2023
• M.A., Mathematics Education, Western Michigan University, 2002
• B.A., Secondary Education Mathematics and Physics, Western Michigan University, 2000

Publications

• “Enhancing Multiplication Fact Strategies with ‘Quick Looks’”, with K. Kline, Australian
  Primary Mathematics Classroom, 2023
• “Eight Unproductive Practices in Developing Fact Fluency,” Mathematics Teacher:
  Learning and Teaching PK–12, 2021
• “5 Fundamentals for Developing Basic Fact Fluency", with J. Bay-Williams, Prime
  Number, 2019
• Math Fact Fluency: 60+ Games and Assessment Tools to Support Learning and Retention, with J. Bay-Williams, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 2019
• Games and Tools for Teaching Multiplication Facts: Quick Reference Guide, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2018

Honors and Awards

• Department of Mathematics Graduate Research Award, Western Michigan University, 2023
• Department of Mathematics Yousef Alavi Doctoral Student Award, Western Michigan University, 2022

Outside The College

Dr. Kling loves spending time with her husband, two children and two dogs. They are active
members of St. Thomas of More Student Parish in their hometown of Kalamazoo, Michigan
and their faith has always been a big part of their family life. Dr. Kling stays very busy watching
her son play tennis and her daughter play softball and lead her high school marching band as
drum major. When they aren’t busy with school or sports, the Kling family enjoys traveling,
including frequent visits to escape rooms. They are proud to have escaped from over 60 escape
rooms throughout the country and are always on the lookout for a new room to try!