PMET Resources

The following listing is intended as a resource only and does not imply an endorsement by PMET.

PMET Papers

PMET participants developed a number of papers outlining their experiences and findings, and offering insights into best practice for mathematics teacher education. These papers are archived on the PMET Papers page.

National Reports

Before It's Too Late: A Report to the Nation from The National Commission on Mathematics and Science Teaching for the 21st Century. An executive summary of this report from the Department of Education. The full report can be downloaded from the same site. Read a review of this report in American Institute of Physics Bulletin of Science Policy News

The Mathematical Education of Teachers. A report of the The Mathematics Education of Teachers Project published by the Conference Board for the Mathematical Sciences. It may be downloaded from the site linked here or purchased in paper form from MAA or AMS. In large measure the PMET project is a response to this report. Review by Rick Seaman in MAA Online. Brief review in Intersection, a newsletter published jointly by NCTM and Exxon/Mobil.

Mathematical Proficiency for All Students: Toward a Strategic Research and Development Program in Mathematics Education, report of RAND Mathematics Study Panel, Deborah Loewenberg Ball, Chair. Published by Rand in 2003. Summary (14 pages in pdf format). News release.

Books

The following book by Liping Ma has been influential in focusing attention on the preparation of mathematics faculty to teach future teachers. While this book may not be read online, it may be ordered from Amazon.com or Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Knowing and Teaching Elementary Mathematics: Teachers' Understanding of Fundamental Mathematics in China and the United States (Studies in Mathematical Thinking and Learning) by Liping Ma. Review in TE-MAT, a publication of the Eisenhower National Clearinghouse.

These two books focus on the mathematics and science education of teachers:

Adding It Up: Helping Children Learn Mathematics. A publication of the Mathematics Learning Study Committee of the National Academy of Science. It is available from the National Academy Press and can be read online. Review in TE-MAT, a publication of the Eisenhower National Clearinghouse.

Educating Teachers of Science, Mathematics, and Technology: New Practices for the New Millennium. This is a publication of the National Academy Press and can be read online.

The Teaching Gap: Best Ideas From the World's Teachers for Improving Education in the Classroom by James W. Stigler and James Hiebert, published by The Free Press, a division of Simon and Schuster Inc., in 1999. Review in TE-MAT, a publication of the Eisenhower National Clearinghouse.

Additional Resources

The following articles are associated with a series of PMET-funded workshops that brought together a group of mathematicians, mathematics educators and teachers to look for common ground in critical issues in K-8 mathematics education. The first four articles are working papers that summarize discussions at these workshops; the last two are solicited papers that were extensively discussed at the workshops.

What is Important in School Mathematics presents a set of five principles which can provide a sound framework for the design of school mathematics curriculum and standards; an essay / working paper from the Mathematics Standards Study Group.

Guiding Principles for K-4 Mathematics, an evolving working paper initiated by mathematicians at the Park City Mathematics Institute (PCMI).

Preparation for Fractions (PDF 147KB) Preparation for Fractions is a working paper from a 2006 PMET-sponsored Park City workshop of mathematicians and mathematics educators looking at conceptual hurdles to learning fractions. The National Mathematics Panel has highlighted the central role of fractions for success in algebra and subsequent mathematics. Fractions have assumed a central role in the workplace. Whether on production lines or managers’ desks, many of the numbers one encounters in business today are percents and rates—error rate, interest rate, employment rate, productivity level, etc. Thus all citizens today need to know how to use and interpret fractions. This essay offers a framework for rethinking mathematics instruction in early grades with the goal of providing better preparation for fractions. A discussion paper. Comments should to be sent to atucker@ams.stonybrook.edu.

Ann Arbor Workshop Summary (PDF 507 KB) In July 2007, PMET brought together at the University of Michigan a group of mathematicians and mathematics educators to try to understand each other concerns about how fractions should be taught. Ann Arbor Summary presents a detailed summary of these discussions which illustrate how both groups have much in common at the same time that some members of each group have points of view that are quite different.

Taking Place Value Seriously: Arithmetic, Estimation and Algebra (PDF 652KB) An essay by Roger Howe, Yale University and Susanna Epp, DePaul University. Arithmetic, first of whole numbers, then of decimal and common fractions, and later of rational expressions and functions, is a central theme in school mathematics. This essay attempts to point out ways to make the study of arithmetic more unified and more conceptual through systematic emphasis of place value structure in the decimal number system.

Ratios, Rates, Percents and Proportion by R. James Milgram, Department of Mathematics, Stanford University, and Hung-Hsi Wu, Department of Mathematics, University of California, Berkeley.

Efforts at Specific institutions

“Promoting Work on Education in Mathematics Departments” by William G. McCallum. This article also appeared in AMS Notices.

Math Matters, An Integrated Process for Preparing Mathematics Educators: A Partnership between the Teachers College and the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Math Matters is a NSF-funded adaptation and implementation project. The project, now in its second year, has three main goals. The first is to create a partnership between mathematicians and mathematics educators with the goal of improving the mathematics education of future elementary teachers. The second is to create meaningful links among field experiences, pedagogy, and mathematics instruction. The third goal is to create math classes that are both accessible and useful for future elementary teachers.

Learning to Teach Secondary Mathematics (LTSM):The School of Education at University of Colorado at Boulder has a research project with the goal to trace prospective teachers' growth in mathematical understanding and beliefs over time and to examine how these beliefs and knowledge play out in practice. This is a five-year longitudinal study of how individuals learn to teach middle and secondary school mathematics. The research project is developing case studies of pre-service teachers from University of Colorado, Boulder (UCB) and the Metropolitan State College of Denver (MSCD), as individuals go through the process of learning to be a mathematics teacher.

Restructuring LSU Mathematics Courses for Elementary Teachers by James Madden, Department of Mathematics, LSU. LaSIP: "We trace the history of course reform in the two main courses for pre-service elementary teachers at LSU and show how one person, with support from LaCEPT, let a revolution in classroom culture." Essay published in "Louisiana and LaSIP Best Practices", LaSIP 2002, R. Farley and C. Seely (eds.) and posted with permission from the Lousiana Systemic Initiatives Program, Baton Rouge, LA.

Bibliographies

References on the Teaching/Learning of Decimals and Fractions, compiled by Dr. Annie Selden, New Mexico State University, Department of Mathematical Sciences and PMET Advisory National Advisory Committee Member. Used with permission from Dr. Selden. View as HTML or view and print PDF.