This book addresses the need of professional development leaders and policymakers for scholarly knowledge about influencing teachers to modify mathematical instruction to bring it more in alignment with the recommendations of the current reform movement initiated by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. The book presents:
* theoretical perspectives for studying, analyzing, and understanding teacher change;
* descriptions of contextual variables to be considered as one studies and attempts to understand teacher change; and
* descriptions of professional development programs that resulted in teacher change.

One chapter builds a rationale for looking to developmental psychology for guidance in constructing models of reconstructing new forms of mathematical instruction. Another highlights the relevance to mathematics teacher development of research-based knowledge about how children construct mathematical ideas. Other chapters explore the relationships between the various contexts of schooling and instructional change. Included also are chapters that describe and analyze major reform efforts designed to assist teachers in modifying their instructional practices (Cognitively Guided Instruction, Math-Cubed, Project Impact, Mathematics in Context, and the Case-Based Project). Finally, the current state of knowledge about encouraging teachers to modify their instruction is discussed, the implications of major research and implementation findings are suggested, and some of the major questions that need to be addressed are identified, such as what we have learned about teacher change.

About the Author
Elizabeth Fennema, Barbara Scott Nelson

Reviews

"...contains the most recent theoretical perspectives on teaching and teacher change, studies of large-scale empirical work, long-term programs of research, and case studies of individual teachers, groups of teachers, and intervention projects....each chapter offers a different piece in the complex puzzle of how to understand teachers in change."
-Mathematics Teacher

"This book contains ideas for further research as well as possible paths to implement reform in the classroom. Many of the articles are informative and practical to all teachers."
-Teaching Children Mathematics

Book Information
ISBN 9780805825831
Author Elizabeth Fennema
Format Hardback
Page Count 446
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Inc
Weight(grams) 990g