Meghan Smith Durkin is a third-year doctoral candidate in Curriculum Studies and Teacher Education at Stanford University, with a focus on mathematics education. She holds a B.S. in Early Childhood Education, an M.Ed in Urban Teaching, and spent a decade as an elementary teacher in Chicago, where she was actively engaged in lesson study at both the school and district levels. Her research examines the impact of teacher professional development programs on both educators and students in public schools.