Title: Owner and Senior Consultant
Company: Math Beyond Solutions LLC
Location: Gunter, Texas, United States
Julie E. Merrill, EdD, owner and senior consultant at Math Beyond Solutions LLC, has been recognized by Marquis Who’s Who Top Educators for dedication, achievements, and leadership in math education.
Though she has devoted 30 years to teaching math and helping others teach it, Dr. Merrill started out hating the subject. Having encountered a few particularly poor teachers during her time in high school and college, she thought she was bad at math and was aggravated by classes. When Dr. Merrill discovered later in her life that she actually understood and even enjoyed the subject, her path in life became clear. She was determined to prevent other children from having the same negative experiences surrounding math.
With that goal in mind, Dr. Merrill spent nearly 20 years teaching math at middle school, high school and college levels. This culminated in her becoming a math coordinator for the Irving Independent School District in 2014. In this role, Dr. Merrill helped build the math curriculum for the entire district, covering prekindergarten through high school. She later contributed for several years as a national math academic specialist for the Alliance for Learning Innovation, a nonprofit that advocates for federal and state policies to improve education.
In 2024, Dr. Merrill founded Math Beyond Solutions LLC, where she currently serves as a senior consultant. Through this organization, she supports mathematics education by offering professional training and curriculum development. Dr. Merrill has worked with school districts across the country, offering guidance to teachers who may know how to do math but may not have a deep enough understanding to successfully teach it to students. She has also undertaken contract work with Texas Instruments and various projects for her home state of Texas.
Among her career accomplishments, Dr. Merrill is particularly proud of her work as a secondary math coordinator in a district that was struggling with low test scores. She implemented clear messaging and strategies, applied consistently, which led to test scores in the district doubling across her first five years there. Dr. Merrill led extensive professional development for teachers in the area, while also communicating with students to address their needs. In the end, she redesigned the district’s math curriculum from the ground up, greatly enhancing its quality and continuing the upward progress.
Dr. Merrill’s performance in the field was born of her academic journey, beginning with a Bachelor of Arts in literary studies with a minor in math and chemistry from The University of Texas at Dallas. Subsequently, she obtained a Master of Science in mathematics from Texas A&M University. Dr. Merrill stayed at that institution to earn a Doctor of Education in curriculum and instruction. She has been certified as a teacher by the Texas Education Agency.
A volunteer within her local community, Dr. Merrill is committed to improving the world above and beyond her primary vocation. For two years, she held the position of regional director for the Texas Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Dr. Merrill has also operated as the treasurer of the North Texas Council of Teachers of Mathematics. She supports several military veteran organizations, as well as St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Looking to the future, Dr. Merrill remains focused on changing how math is perceived by students through influencing teachers and improving the education process. Her professional goal is to reach as many teachers as possible with her message by speaking at national and state conferences.
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