Describes the Chinese normal education system which differs from that of other countries, particularly in the uniqueness of its curriculum design, its admission process for normal students, and its training of students during their normal education. Highlights preservice teacher education in China. (Author/ASK)

Presents evidence of the influence of professional development and curriculum on upper elementary students' understanding of fractions. Subjects included three groups of teachers and their students. Indicates that the benefits of reform curriculum for students may depend upon integrated professional development. (Contains 60 references.)…

Presents a comparative analysis of three teacher educators using a curriculum designed for use with elementary teachers in an inquiry group setting. Examines the process and demands of supporting teachers' learning and teachers' efforts to reform their practices. The central demand of supporting teachers' learning through inquiry involved…

Explores the debate between academic, skills-oriented mathematics instruction and more discussion- and context-centered approaches and offers strategies to move beyond the debate and improve mathematics education. (EV)

Compares problems that followed content presentation of the addition and subtraction of integers in several American and Chinese mathematics textbooks to illuminate cross-national similarities/differences in expectations related to students' mathematics experiences between the United States and China. Differences found in the problems' performance…

The author and many illustrious co-signers sent an open letter to the U.S. Department of Education protesting a report designating 10 "exemplary" or "promising" math programs. The programs over-emphasize data analysis and statistics, de-emphasize arithmetic and algebra, and advocate early calculator use, which can undermine…

Presents an interview with Bob Hackworth on developmental mathematics traditions and alternatives. Discusses issues ranging from how math education, instruction, and technology at two-year colleges have changed over the last 10-15 years, to the role assessment instruments play, or should play, in developmental education and education generally.…

This article sets the stage for the following 3 articles. It opens with a brief history of attempts to characterize advanced mathematical thinking, beginning with the deliberations of the Advanced Mathematical Thinking Working Group of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education. It then locates the articles within 4…

The Smith Report has generated central questions about the mathematics education of UK adolescents. This paper highlights the close match between the goals of school mathematics, adolescence and exploratory pedagogy. This is contrasted with the prescriptive nature of current regimes. In particular, without careful attention to pedagogy it is…

This article details an exploration of exponential decay and growth relationships using M&M's and dice. Students collect data for mathematical models and use graphing calculators to make sense of the general form of the exponential functions. (Contains 10 figures and 2 tables.)

This reaction to the papers in this PME Special Issue of "Educational Studies in Mathematics" draws a wider perspective on the issues addressed and some of the constructs used in research in Realistic Mathematics Education (RME). In particular, it tries to show that while the problems addressed existed within the world-wide arena of…

The most important objective when starting a class on a previously unknown branch of mathematics is to ensure that the students enjoy and appreciate the significance of this new aspect of mathematics. Inundating them with a flood of technical terms and definitions without any reality experience is a fast way to send the students out of class…

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act foresees to change the curriculum of mathematics in United States to make it rigorous and accessible to all students. A standard curriculum is suggested for all students in one state.

Mathematics curriculum at the tertiary level is located within a range of social and cultural theories, and is often constructed by academics seeking to promulgate a particular view of mathematics. We argue that such a curriculum should incorporate a real acknowledgement of the different ways in which students understand the nature of mathematics…

Studies of teachers' use of mathematics curriculum materials are particularly timely given the current availability of reform-inspired curriculum materials and the increasingly widespread practice of mandating the use of a single curriculum to regulate mathematics teaching. A review of the research on mathematics curriculum use over the last 25…