Brief Biography of William Lai, Ph.D. (Director)
I was born in Canton, China and I finished my elementary and high school education in Hong Kong. I came to the United States as a foreign student at the age of 19. I spent my undergraduate years studying mathematics and psychology in the quiet town of Lafayette, Louisiana and later on relocated to Los Angeles, California. I got married in my late twenties and soon afterwards landed a career as a high school mathematics teacher with the Los Angeles Unified School District. I taught mathematics for 21 years at an inner-city high school. The subjects I taught ranged from Basic Math, Algebra I and Geometry to Algebra II, Math Analysis, Trigonometry, and AP Calculus BC. And to further my professional growth and my strong belief in humanistic and person-centered education, in 1987, I enrolled in an innovative Ph.D. program—Union Graduate School of the Union for Experimenting Colleges and Universities in Cincinnati, Ohio (now Union Institute & University)—and finished that program in six years with a specialization in Mathematics Education.
Due to my eagerness to interact with more mathematics educators in the outside world, I decided to leave classroom teaching in the year 2005 and landed a new career as a secondary mathematics coach within the same school district. My primary duties as a math coach entailed mentoring new teachers at designated high schools and conducted periodic Professional Developments for in-service mathematics teachers (at both the middle and high school levels). There were also additional responsibilities such as organizing remedial mathematics programs (e.g., California High School Exit Exam Mathematics Boot Camps), ordering technology equipments and supplies for the math departments, helping out with the selection process of mathematics textbooks at the district level, attending leadership meetings, parents meetings (addressing issues on how to improve their children’s math achievement), and so forth. I worked in this position until 2009 and, due to district-wide budget cuts, I was transferred to teach math at a middle school for a couple of years. I retired from the school district in 2011.
Shortly after retirement, I had a short stint working as a SES tutor (No Child Left Behind Act-related) for a private company—tutoring schoolchildren ranging from the elementary to the high school levels in English and Math. At any rate, my present goal—at this stage of my life—is to become a successful entrepreneur in the business of after-school math tutoring. Through this avenue, I hope, in addition to making a decent living, I can also make a contribution to the community by helping more students (with support from their caring parents, of course) to excel in the field of mathematics education as well. It is my firm belief that students can attain their full potential more readily if the public educational system can provide them with a more humanistic, person-centered, and individualized learning environment. The Math Coach-Math Squared Education is created to fulfill such a mission for students’ mathematical learning experiences…
I was born in Canton, China and I finished my elementary and high school education in Hong Kong. I came to the United States as a foreign student at the age of 19. I spent my undergraduate years studying mathematics and psychology in the quiet town of Lafayette, Louisiana and later on relocated to Los Angeles, California. I got married in my late twenties and soon afterwards landed a career as a high school mathematics teacher with the Los Angeles Unified School District. I taught mathematics for 21 years at an inner-city high school. The subjects I taught ranged from Basic Math, Algebra I and Geometry to Algebra II, Math Analysis, Trigonometry, and AP Calculus BC. And to further my professional growth and my strong belief in humanistic and person-centered education, in 1987, I enrolled in an innovative Ph.D. program—Union Graduate School of the Union for Experimenting Colleges and Universities in Cincinnati, Ohio (now Union Institute & University)—and finished that program in six years with a specialization in Mathematics Education.
Due to my eagerness to interact with more mathematics educators in the outside world, I decided to leave classroom teaching in the year 2005 and landed a new career as a secondary mathematics coach within the same school district. My primary duties as a math coach entailed mentoring new teachers at designated high schools and conducted periodic Professional Developments for in-service mathematics teachers (at both the middle and high school levels). There were also additional responsibilities such as organizing remedial mathematics programs (e.g., California High School Exit Exam Mathematics Boot Camps), ordering technology equipments and supplies for the math departments, helping out with the selection process of mathematics textbooks at the district level, attending leadership meetings, parents meetings (addressing issues on how to improve their children’s math achievement), and so forth. I worked in this position until 2009 and, due to district-wide budget cuts, I was transferred to teach math at a middle school for a couple of years. I retired from the school district in 2011.
Shortly after retirement, I had a short stint working as a SES tutor (No Child Left Behind Act-related) for a private company—tutoring schoolchildren ranging from the elementary to the high school levels in English and Math. At any rate, my present goal—at this stage of my life—is to become a successful entrepreneur in the business of after-school math tutoring. Through this avenue, I hope, in addition to making a decent living, I can also make a contribution to the community by helping more students (with support from their caring parents, of course) to excel in the field of mathematics education as well. It is my firm belief that students can attain their full potential more readily if the public educational system can provide them with a more humanistic, person-centered, and individualized learning environment. The Math Coach-Math Squared Education is created to fulfill such a mission for students’ mathematical learning experiences…
Business Hours:
Monday - Friday 2:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Saturday 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 a.m. 3:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Sunday Closed
Office Phone: (626) 284-3888 Cell: (626) 512-1332
What is Math Squared Education?
