The aim of the study reported in this paper was to explore and enhance experienced school mathematics teachers' knowledge of students'thinking, as it is manifested in practice. Data were collected from records of classroom observations, interviews with participating teachers, and weekly teacher-researcher meetings organized in the school. In this…

The Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE) was grappling with several issues including: (1) A respectable rate of growth in student achievement for both fourth- and eighth-grade math in the state of Alabama, as measured by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), but below the national average; and (2) A growing concern about…

In this brief article, the author argues that if society defines schools as testing centers instead of learning centers where young people go to watch adults work, then teacher education programs are replaceable. Online technologies allow for the transmittal of information without the need for traditional classroom settings. However, if schools…

There is a need for research in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) teacher education that addresses the challenge of building teachers' pedagogical skills in fostering the development of mathematical reasoning in students. The Common Core State Standards for Mathematics provide teachers with guidance on how to promote…

Amid the global economic crisis dominating policy makers' recent attention, the world faces many other equal if not greater long-term challenges that will require concerted and highly skilled policy efforts in coming years. Those interwoven challenges include the mitigation of climate change, the control of emerging diseases, the reduction of…

The evidence-based practice (EBP) movement has the potential to significantly advance the quality of psychological and educational services provided by psychologists working in schools. Training psychologists in EBP has challenged the profession and caused faculty in graduate programs to reevaluate and retool professional training curricula and…

Discusses professional development intervention that attempted to start a professional community of secondary mathematics teachers through in-service work on mathematical problem solving and technology. Suggests that use of mathematical content explorations in professional development settings help mathematics teachers build professional…

To meet the challenge to reform mathematics education, effective opportunities to learn are needed to promote prospective elementary school teachers' development of the knowledge base that supports teaching, for mathematical proficiency. This article describes three professional development interventions and their influence on prospective…

The second volume of this proceedings contains full research articles. Papers include: (1) "Lave and Wenger's social practice theory and teaching and learning school mathematics" (J. Adler); (2) "Being a researcher and being a teacher" (J. Ainley); (3) "Procedural and conceptual aspects of standard algorithms in…

The third volume of this proceedings contains full research articles. Papers include: (1) "A longitudinal study of children's fraction representations and problem-solving behavior" (G.A. Goldin and C.B. Passantino); (2) "Psychology students' conceptions of a statistics course" (S. Gordon, J. Nicholas, and K. Crawford); (3)…

The fourth volume of this proceedings contains full research articles. Papers include: (1) "Conceptual and procedural approaches to problem-solving" (Y. Mohammad-Yusof and D. Tall); (2)"Teaching differential equations to chemistry and biology students: An overview on methodology of qualitative research. A case study" (M. Moreno and C. Azcarate);…

One of the most hotly contested issues in mathematics education today is the use of calculators in elementary schools. The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) has gone on record recommending the use of calculators in the earliest grades. NCTM's recommendation that calculators be introduced under the guidance of skilled teachers is…

Recent research explaining the influence of teacher knowledge and beliefs on instruction tends to illustrate what teachers cannot do by describing their limited beliefs about mathematics or gaps in mathematics knowledge. Those studies illustrating what teachers can do tend to focus on one teacher. This paper describes what nine secondary level…

This guide for elementary Teacher preparation programs in science education comprises three sections: "Introduction"; "Guidelines"; and "Implementation." The reform efforts, particularly those pertaining to science education, are characterized by a shift towards shared responsibility for the preparation of teachers to…

The purpose of this article is two-fold. First, it reports on a study of the distribution of reform-oriented instructional practices among Black, White and Hispanic students, and the relationship between those practices and student achievement. The study identified many similarities in instruction across student groups, but there were some…