Over the course of his career, Dr. Kenna has contributed a wealth of research to the field of mathematics education.
PITTSBURGH, PA, September 20, 2023 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Abate L. Kenna, PhD, has been included in Marquis Who's Who. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.
A dedicated and skilled evaluator and researcher, Dr. Kenna has earned distinction as an educational program evaluator and researcher for Pittsburgh Public Schools' Office of Data, Research, Evaluation and Assessment. Since 2021, he has focused his efforts on designing RFPs for external evaluators, conducting analyses and program evaluations for the district in to contribute research geared toward review panels and ensure the development of evaluation process and logic model that meets evidence standards in ARP ESSER funded research and evaluation programs. Additionally, he has been the founder and director for Epsilon Tutoring Service, through which he provides mathematics tutoring, since 2022. He has recently become a member of the local branch of Lion International and a board member of the Congress for New Urbanism Midwest chapter.
Prior to his current position, Dr. Kenna began his career in education as a middle and high school director and teacher of mathematics for Mena Middle and High School in Ethiopia in 1998 and for Robe High School in 2000. At the same time, he was a city community development committee member for the Robe City Council from 2000 until 2005 and as the administrative and development vice dean for the Robe Teachers' College starting in 2001. In 2005, he became the college dean for Robe Teachers' College, also teaching professional education courses as well as mathematics courses. The following year, he served as the academic and research vice president for Mada Walabu University in Ethiopia.
Dr. Kenna continued his career as an assistant manager and supervisor for Duty Free Americas in 2007 and was also part of the personnel committee for the Ashmont Nursery School in 2009. In 2013, he served as a teaching assistant for the University of Massachusetts until taking a role as a program supervisor for the education department. During this time, he also functioned as a program evaluator and research assistant for the university, working on a team for their published project "Needs Analysis Survey for the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Teacher Licensure Program." He also lent his expertise as a school governor for St. Luke's Church of England Primary School in the United Kingdom in 2014 and was a monitoring, evaluation and learning manager for Hope for Justice, which focuses on combating human trafficking and modern slavery, in 2018.
To prepare for his career in education, Dr. Kenna earned a Bachelor of Education in pedagogical science and mathematics from Bahir Dar University in Ethiopia in 1998. Following this achievement, he attained a Master of Arts in curriculum and instruction from Addis Ababa University in 2004. After immigrating to the United States, he gained a Master of Liberal Arts in mathematics for teaching from Harvard University in 2013 and attended a doctoral program in mathematics education at the University of Massachusetts Kaput Centre for Research and Innovation in STEM Education until 2014. He subsequently earned a Doctor of Philosophy in education with a focus on mathematics education and technology from the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom in 2020.
Eminently qualified in his field, Dr. Kenna has secured multiple credentials in education, project management and safety. Among these include a project management for development professionals certification, a certificate in preparing data for impact analysis, prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse training and a resilient researcher certificate. Additionally, he completed a United States educational equivalency for foreign academic achievements according to the Center for Educational Documentation, Inc. in 2022.
Over the course of his career, Dr. Kenna has contributed a wealth of research to the field of mathematics education, starting with "An assessment of Information Technology implementation in secondary school curriculum in Bale zone" while attending Addis Ababa University in 2004. His Doctoral study focused on Mathematics Education and Technology. His dissertation topic was "Interactive mathematics games: Mathematical generalisation and higher order thinking. " More recently, he co-authored "Increasing competence and confidence in algebra and multiplicative structures (ICCAMS): Evaluation report" for the University of Manchester in 2021 and "Increasing competence and confidence in algebra and multiplicative structures (ICCAMS)" for the Education Endowment Foundation in London in 2022, among several other publications.
Starting when he was in elementary school, Dr. Kenna received numerous prestigious awards in Ethiopia, including Class Level Awards, Grade Level Awards and Individual Excellence Awards for his outstanding academic performance and graduating as valedictorian at his high school. He was also recognized by Hope for Justice for his contributions toward realizing the group's vision. Additionally, he was awarded a scholarship from the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth prior to his relocation to the United Kingdom in 2014.
Within the coming years, Dr. Kenna intends to continue focusing on research and evaluation in education, making his research publications available to the public and ensuring his findings can be used by a wider audience. Two such papers are scheduled for publication in the near future.
About Marquis Who's Who®:
Since 1899, when A. N. Marquis printed the First Edition of Who's Who in America®, Marquis Who's Who® has chronicled the lives of the most accomplished individuals and innovators from every significant field of endeavor, including politics, business, medicine, law, education, art, religion and entertainment. Marquis celebrates its 125th anniversary in 2023, and Who's Who in America® remains an essential biographical source for thousands of researchers, journalists, librarians and executive search firms around the world. Marquis® publications may be visited at the official Marquis Who's Who® website at www.marquiswhoswho.com.
# # #