good book:Reforming Math Ed...

Jane Jackson (jane.jackson@asu.edu <jane.jackson@asu.edu>)
Fri, 29 Dec 1995 14:51:28 +0000 

Hello,

I followed the trail that Billy Spitzer started last September, on new
forms of professional development for high school teachers.  Recently I
found a gem in the Arizona State University library: a 1994 book entitled,
REFORMING MATHEMATICS EDUCATION IN AMERICA'S CITIES: THE URBAN MATHEMATICS
COLLABORATIVE PROJECT.  Its editors are Norman L. Webb and Thomas A.
Romberg.  Teachers College Press, Columbia University.ISBN 0-8077-3382-2
(paperback), ISBN 0-8077-3383-0 (cloth).

The book's 11 chapters, by 10 authors, discuss the many aspects of this
Ford Foundation project which began in 1984 and eventually included a
network of 16 math collaboratives in the nation,involving more than 1100
math teachers.  The collaboratives have served to "enhance the knowledge
and professionalism of participating teachers while functioning as a
testing ground for new modes of thought and fresh approaches to larger
issues of professional enrichment and subject-area expertise."

One chapter discusses the extensive documentation of the effects of the
collaboratives on the teachers' views about what math is, what schools'
purposes are, etc.  Interesting examples of their findings are the
following:
1) In doing this work they found 4 different types of math teachers, which
they call reform, traditional, transitional, and non-discriminatory.
2)  For traditional teachers the authors suggest, "Workshops and/orteacher
education programs that emphasize the ways in which the traditional
approach can be tailored to students' construction of their own knowledge
may help these teachers integrate new materials that otherwise might prove
frustrating."
3) They discovered that the reform teachers are most influenced in their
teaching style by their math teacher colleagues, whereas the traditional
teachers are most influenced by their own high school math teachers.
However, the more the teachers got involved in the collaboratives, the more
the collaboratives influenced their teaching styles. Interestingly, all 4
types of teachers were LEAST influenced in their teaching style by their
college professors, particularly their education professors. ("It speaks
volumes about the ineffectiveness of university teacher education programs
in actually influencing how teachers approach instruction", the authors
say.)  This suggests to me that high school master teachers should teach
Masters degree courses and teacher workshops as much as possible. (We do
this: our 5-week NSF workshops are taught totally by 2 h.s.teachers, and
one of them teaches ASU's senior-graduate course in methods of teaching
physics.)
4) The teachers see themselves first as teachers, and secondarily as people
interested in math.  Furthermore, "these findings appear to contradict many
common perceptions that place inner city teachers in a negative light...."

Well, that's enough of a teaser.  Good book!  Applicable to the sciences as
well.  In physics we have formed more than 150 local physics alliances in
the nation; many of the ideas in this book are applicable to them.  How
about biology and chemistry: what local alliances or collaboratives exist?

Happy New Year,
Jane Jackson
Director, Modeling Workshop Project

Jane Jackson (Prof. of Physics, Scottsdale Comm. College--on leave)
Dept.of Physics, Box 871504, Arizona State Univ.,Tempe AZ 85287-1504.
jane.jackson@asu.edu <jane.jackson@asu.edu>     PHONE: (602)965-8438.  FAX: (602)965-7331.