National Research Council

Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education

Policy and Global Affairs

Center for Education

Board on International Scientific Organizations

U.S. National Commission on Mathematics Instruction

Mathematical Sciences Education Board

The Mathematical Sciences Education Board (MSEB) and the U.S. National Commission on Mathematics Instruction (USNCMI) took advantage of a unique opportunity to bring educators together. In August 2000, following the Ninth International Congress on Mathematics Education (ICME-9) in Makuhari, Japan, MSEB and USNCMI capitalized on the presence of mathematics educators in attendance from the United States and Japan by holding a two and a half-day workshop on the professional development of mathematics teachers. This workshop used the expertise of the participants from the two countries to develop a better, more flexible, and more useful understanding of the knowledge that is needed to teach well and how to help teachers to obtain this knowledge. A major focus of the workshop was to discuss teachers' opportunities in both societies-using teaching practice as a medium for professional development. Another focus of the workshop addressed practice by considering the records of teaching, including videos of classroom lessons and cases describing teachers and their work. These proceedings reflect the activities and discussion of the workshop using both print and video to enable others to share in their experience

Proceedings of a U.S.-Japan Workshop

Studying Classroom Teaching as a Medium for Professional Development

Committee on the Mathematical Sciences in the Year 2000

Over the next decade, the mathematical community and the nation's colleges and unversities must restructure fundamentally the culture, content, and context of undergraduate mathematics. Acknowledging the weaknesses in the present college mathematics curriculum and the ways in which it is taught, this book cites exemplary programs that point the way toward achieving the same world-wide preeminence for mathematics education that the United States enjoys in mathematical research. Moving Beyond Myths sets forth ambitious goals for collegiate mathematics by the year 2000 and provides a sweeping plan of action to accomplish them. It calls on mathematics faculty, their departments, their professional societies, colleges and universities, and government agencies to do their parts to implement the plan, help the public move beyond commonly held myths about mathematics, and bring about a revitalization of undergraduate mathematics.

Revitalizing Undergraduate Mathematics

Moving Beyond Myths

What mathematics should be learned by today's young people as well as tomorrow's workforce? On the Shoulders of Giants is a vision of richness of mathematics expressed in essays on change, dimension, quantity, shape, and uncertainty, each of which illustrate fundamental strands for school mathematics. These essays expand on the idea of mathematics as the language and science of patterns, allowing us to realize the importance of providing hands-on experience and the development of a curriculum that will enable students to apply their knowledge to diverse numerical problems.

New Approaches to Numeracy

On the Shoulders of Giants

Ann Shannon

Center for Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Education

Curriculum reform, performance assessment, standards, portfolios, and high stakes testing-what's next? What does this all mean for me in my classroom? Many teachers have asked such questions since mathematics led the way in setting standards with the publication of the Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics [NCTM], 1989). This seminal document and others that followed served as catalysts for mathematics education reform, giving rise to new initiatives related to curriculum, instruction, and assessment over the past decade. In particular, approaches to classroom, school, and district-wide assessment have undergone a variety of changes as educators have sought to link classroom teaching to appropriate assessment opportunities. Since the publication of Everybody Counts (National Research Council [NRC], 1989), the Mathematical Sciences Education Board (MSEB) has dedicated its efforts to the improvement of mathematics education. A national summit on assessment led to the publication of For Good Measure (NRC, 1991). This statement of goals and objectives for assessment in mathematics was followed by Measuring Up (NRC, 1993a), which provided prototypical fourth-grade performance assessment tasks linked to the goals of the NCTM's Curriculum and Evaluation Standards. Measuring What Counts (NRC, 1993b) demonstrated the importance of mathematics content, learning, and equity as they relate to assessment. The MSEB is now prepared to present perspectives on issues in mathematics education assessment for those most directly engaged in implementing the reform initiatives on a daily basis-classroom teachers, school principals, supervisors, and others in school-based settings.

Keeping Score

Board on Mathematical Sciences and Their Applications

Mathematics is the key to opportunity. No longer only the language of science, mathematics is now essential to business, finance, health, and defense. Yet because of the lack of mathematical literacy, many students are not prepared for tomorrow's jobs. Everybody Counts suggests solutions. Written for everyone concerned about our children's education, this book discusses why students in this country do not perform well in mathematics and outlines a comprehensive plan for revitalizing mathematics education in America, from kindergarten through college. single copy, $8.95; 2-9 copies, $7.50 each; 10 or more copies, $6.95 each (no other discounts apply)

A Report to the Nation on the Future of Mathematics Education

Everybody Counts

To achieve national goals for education, we must measure the things that really count. Measuring What Counts establishes crucial research- based connections between standards and assessment. Arguing for a better balance between educational and measurement concerns in the development and use of mathematics assessment, this book sets forth three principles--related to content, learning, and equity--that can form the basis for new assessments that support emerging national standards in mathematics education.

A Conceptual Guide for Mathematics Assessment

Measuring What Counts

Glimpse the future of mathematics assessment in Measuring Up This book features 13 classroom exercises for fourth grade students that demonstrate the dramatic meaning of inquiry, performance, communication, and problem solving as standards for mathematics education. Policymakers, education leaders, classroom teachers, university-based educators, and parents can learn from the use of these genuine mathematics problems to challenge and prepare students for the future. single copy, $10.95; 2-9 copies, $8.50 each; 10 or more copies, $6.95 each (no other discounts apply)

Mathematical Sciences Education Board

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