Teachers and teacher educators interested in synthesizing their current practice with new mathematics standards will welcome this highly useful volume. The QUASAR Project at the University of Pittsburgh presents prevalent cases of mathematics instruction drawn from their research of nearly 500 classroom lessons. The Mathematical Tasks Framework--which is explained thoroughly in this book--offers teachers and teacher educators the means to evaluate instructional decisions, the choice of materials, and learning outcomes while the case studies afford readers the opportunity to ground these ideas in actual classroom practice. This book aims to provide insight into how to foster a challenging, cognitively rich, and exciting classroom climate that propels students toward a richer understanding of mathematics. (Contains 36 references.) (ASK)