The National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE) looks across the world for innovative and successful policies and practices, grounded in research and supported by the wisdom of practice, to share with partners. In response to concerns about student performance in mathematics, particularly following the precipitous drop in test scores…

The teachers of mathematics education in China have gradually demonstrated the need for the systematic theory about mathematics education. However, the philosophy of mathematics education is biased towards the academic level, and there are few "readable materials" for direct application in practice. This paper prepares a curriculum…

Mathematical modeling is an open-ended research subject where no definite answers exist for any problem. Math modeling enables thinking outside the box to connect different fields of studies together including statistics, algebra, calculus, matrices, programming and scientific writing. As an integral part of society, it is the foundation for many…

The concrete, pictorial, and abstract methods of this lesson give students access to investigate, isolate, define, and use prime numbers. In this article, the authors describe an enrichment lesson that offers opportunities to investigate prime numbers in concrete, pictorial, and abstract ways. Originally introduced by Jerome Bruner in 1960, the…

Focusing on the case of mathematics, this paper reviews debates on China's new Basic Education Curriculum Reform program, including the status of knowledge within the reformed curriculum, the arrangement of the curriculum system, and the push toward real-life applicability and hands-on participation. It discusses the related challenges that…

The reflective ability in mathematics is a highly individual mental process, which is engaged in the course of certain types of mathematics activity. This article describes the basic meaning, characteristics, and developmental features of reflectivity in mathematics. It is suggested that reflective ability in mathematics and its relations with…

Understanding how various aspects of mathematics education work together is necessary if reform efforts are to succeed, Ms. Newton argues. She compares U.S. and Chinese mathematics education to provide perspectives that might further such understanding. She highlights the Chinese emphasis on thinking systematically about teaching, curriculum, and…

This article describes the special residential "key" high schools for mathematically talented students in China. It explains the admissions process, the general curriculum, and the mathematics curriculum specifically. (Contains references.) (DB)

China and other East Asian countries (Japan, South Korea, Taiwan) have consistently outperformed the United States and other Western countries in mathematics achievement. As part of a Fulbright-sponsored trip to China in the Summer of 2002, a New York City public school teacher and a trainer of school psychologists offer their impressions of some…

The teaching objectives and curriculum content of the secondary school mathematics program in China are discussed. Public examination papers and classroom teaching methods are described, with specific examples. (MNS)

Details about mathematics education in China, what changes are underway, and the direction these changes are taking at the middle school level. The curriculum at this level is viewed to be quite demanding. It is felt Americans may ponder the great strides of the Chinese in 25 years. (MP)

Cross-cultural studies on mathematical cognition and education have suggested that curriculum and teaching have contributed to U.S. versus Asian differences in student performance; however, previous discussions of curriculum and teaching practices have been very general and have not focused on a detailed analysis of how mathematics concepts are…

This article gives a brief account of secondary school mathematics curriculum development in China. Some experimental teaching materials and teaching methods are introduced. One of the most influential projects is described in detail. (Author/PK)

This document consists of three issues of the journal "Seedbed," an outcome of the Teachers' Center Project at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville (SIUE). Issue Number 29 contains 67 articles on teachers' ideas that they thought worth sharing with other teachers. Issue Number 30 consists of a single paper, "Children and…

Discussed are Chinese research studies and experiments dealing with the following topics: programed instruction; teaching methods in mathematics; teaching reading using the concentrated character recognition method; the three-in-one method for teaching arithmetic; the ease of learning to read Chinese characters; and the teaching of languages. (RM)