Mathematics Education part of the Education Reform Network

Issues

• Testing Our Schools, Frontline PBS
  "President Bush promises to leave no child behind. But where will his faith in tests leave us?" James Popham, former test writer and professor emeritus at UCLA, discusses the problems and a solution.
• �Changing the teaching and learning of Mathematics,� Thomas A. Romberg
  Romberg asks, �How would one know if the reforms (in the teaching and learning of mathematics) have an influence on student learning?" The answer involves a shift in schooling practices consistent with mathematical literacy which then needs to be assessed.
• Adding It Up: Helping Children Learn Mathematics
  �...explores how students in pre-K through 8th grade learn mathematics and recommends how teaching, curricula, and teacher education should change to improve mathematics learning during these critical years.� 480 pages to download, view online or order.
• "Can Mathematics Get Its Act Together?" by Leon Seitelman
  Why should the public support mathematics? What do we do that is important? Other key issues include: How can we answer when students ask, �When will I ever use this?� Why should people major in mathematics?.
• �The Mathematical Miseducation of America�s Youth,� Michael Battista
  To understand the controversy over traditional mathematics education and current �new� methods based on research and how students learn mathematics, read this article. Opponents of school reform ignore failures of traditional methods and proponents of reform need to address genuine issues such as adults� lack of knowledge about both the content of mathematics and how students learn.
• Equal Mathematics Education for Female Students, ERIC Digest
  Discourse! �This digest reviews common teaching practices and methods of communication in the classroom--known as discourse--to indicate the treatment of female students that inhibits their ability to successfully learn math.� .
• Improving Mathematics Education: Resources for Decision Making
  Designed to inform stakeholders about the decisions they face, this 60 page report is based on eight documents. Addresses questions such as: Does working in small groups help students to develop math proficiency? What should be taught? How? and much more.
• Links to Math Education Research and Reform, Math Forum
  More than 70 links to math research and reform categorized as follows: Curriculum/Materials Development, Pedogogical Research, Psychological Research, and Reform. Helpful descriptions for each link.
• "Early Childhood Mathematics: Promoting Good Beginnings,� NAEYC and NCTM
  Comprehensive, excellent article pointing out the need for teachers to collaborate. This joint statement describes what constitutes high-quality mathematics education for children 3-6 and what is necessary to achieve such quality.
• "In the Trenches" at Mathematically Sane
  Three teachers' give perspectives on moving beyond the "math wars". This site promotes the rational reform of mathematics education, providing a forum, success stories, resources and links.
• Helping Children Learn Mathematics, Jeremy Kilpatrick and Jane Swafford, Editors
  Information to guide efforts to improve mathematics instruction pre--kindergarten through grade 8. Stresses the importance of parents, teachers, administrators, and policy makers working together to guarantee a mathematically literate society.