Teaching cases have been utilized in professional training and can offer dramatic accounts of problems teachers may confront in the classroom. This case study examines a fact-based story of a third-grade teacher's confrontation with the mother of an African-American child who disagrees with the innovative approach utilized in her child's mathematics classroom. The booklet is designed for use in the preparation of elementary school teachers and presented in seven sections. The bulk of the document is the presentation of the case: a description of the conflict between the teacher and the mother, a description of the teaching methods utilized in the student's third-grade classroom, and an account of the parent conference in which the confrontation arose. The sixth section provides background and context information on Kathy, the teacher; the multicultural makeup of the classroom; Kathy's preservice preparation for teaching mathematics; a description of the school and school community; Kathy's efforts to find an effective mathematics teaching model; and Kathy's decision to adapt a teaching method based on research and writings that envision mathematics as a sense-making process. The last part of the document raises questions that form a framework from which to discuss the issues involved in the case study. Additional reading suggestions are included. (Contains six references.) (MDH)