Bold Ventures: Case Studies of U.S. Innovations in Mathematics Education

385 Pages·1996·8.05 MB·English

by  Senta A. Raizen, Senta A. Raizen (auth.), Edward D. Britton (eds.)

BOLD VENTURES
Volume 3
Case Studies of U.S. Innovations in
Mathematics Education
Other Volumes in the Series: Bold Ventures
Volume 1: Patterns of U.S. Innovations in Science
and Mathematics Education
General Reform Context of the '80s and '90s
Senta A. Raizen
Changing Conceptions of Science and Mathematics Education
J. Myron Atkin, Jeremy Kilpatrick, Julie A. Bianchini, Jenijer V. Helms,
Nicole l. Holthuis
Changing Role of Teachers
Norman L. Webb
Changing Conceptions of Reform
Senta A. Raizen, Douglas B. McLeod
Adoption and Implementation of Innovations
Michael Huberman, Mary Budd Rowe
Underplayed Elements in These Reform Efforts
Robert E. Stake
Appendix: Case Studies in Other OECD Countries
Volume 2: Case Studies of U.S. Innovations in Science Education
Building on Strength: Changing Science Teaching in California Public Schools
J. Myron Atkin, Jenijer V. Helms, Gerald L. Rosiek, Suzanne A. Siner
The Different Worlds of Project 2061
1. Myron Atkin, Julie A. Bianchini, Nicole l. Holthuis
Chemistry in the Community: A Science Education Reform
Mary Budd Rowe, Julie E. Montgomery, Michael J. Midling, Thomas M. Keating
Case Study of the Kids Network
James W. Karlan, Michael Huberman, Sally H. Middlebrooks
Case Study of the Voyage of the Mimi
Sally H. Middlebrooks, Michael Huberman, James W. Karlan
BOLD VENTURES
Volume 3
Case Studies of U.S.
Innovations in Mathematics
Education
edited by
Senta A. Raizen
Edward D. Britton
from
The National Center for Improving
Science Education
a division of
The NETWORK, Inc.
SPRINGER SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, LLC
A c.I.P. Catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
ISBN 978-0-7923-4237-3 ISBN 978-94-011-7111-3 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-94-011-7111-3
Printed an acid-free paper
AII Rights Reserved
© 1996 by Springer Science+Business Media New York
Originally published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in 1996
No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or
utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and
retrieval system, without written permis sion from the copyright owner.
The National Center for
Improving Science Education
The National Center for Improving Science Education (NCISE) is a division of
The NETWORK, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to educational reform.
The Center's mission is to promote change in state and local policies and prac-
tices in science curriculum, teaching, and assessment. To further this mission,
we carry out research, evaluation, and technical assistance. Based on this work,
we provide a range of products and services to educational policymakers and
practitioners to help them strengthen science teaching and learning across the
country.
We are dedicated to helping all stakeholders in science education reform,
preschool to postsecondary, to promote better science education for all students.
Advisory Board, U.S. Case Studies
J. Myron Atkin, Professor, School of Education, Stanford University *
Michael Huberman, Senior Researcher, National Center for Improving
Science Education; Visiting Professor, Harvard University *
David A. Kennedy, Director of Curriculum, Office of the Superintendent of
Public Instruction, State of Washington **
Thomas E. Kieren, Professor, Mathematics Education, University of Alberta **
Jeremy Kilpatrick, Professor, Mathematics Education, University of Georgia *
Magdalene Lampert, Professor, College of Education, Michigan State University
Donna J. Long, Director, Office of School and Professional Development,
Indiana Department of Education **
Milbrey W. McLaughlin, Professor, School of Education, Stanford University **
Manuel Perry, retired, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory **
Jerome Pine, Professor, Biophysics, California Institute of Technology **
Andrew C. Porter, Director, Wisconsin Center for Education Research,
University of Wisconsin at Madison **
Thomas A. Romberg, Sears-Roebuck Foundation-Bascom Professor of
Education, Wisconsin Center for Education Research, University of Wisconsin
at Madison
Mary Budd Rowe, Professor, School of Education, Stanford University *
F. James Rutherford, Chief Education Officer, American Association for the
Advancement of Science
Thomas P. Sachse, Manager, Mathematics and Science Education, California
Department of Education
Robert E. Stake, Director, Center for Instructional Research and Curriculum
Evaluation, University of lllinois at Champaign-Urbana *
Wayne W. Welch, Professor, Educational Psychology, University of Minnesota
Karen L. Worth, Senior Scientist, Educational Development Center **
* Resigned upon assuming leadership of case study teams.
** Reviewed individual case study reports.
Contents
Contributors .................................................. IX
Preface ...................................................... xi
Introduction: Study Background ................................... 1
Senta A. Raizen
1. Setting the Standards: NCTM's Role in the Reform of
Mathematics Education ...................................... 13
Douglas B. McLeod, Robert E. Stake, Bonnie P. Schappelle,
Melissa Mellissinos, Mark J. Gierl
2. Teaching and Learning Cross-Country Mathematics:
A Story ofInnovation in Precalculus .......................... 133
Jeremy Kilpatrick, Lynn Hancock, Denise S. Mewborn,
Lynn Stallings
3. The Urban Mathematics Collaborative Project:
A Study of Teacher, Community, and Reform ................... 245
Norman L. Webb, Daniel J. Heck, William F. Tate
Acronyms and Abbreviations ................................... 361
Index ...................................................... 363
VII
Contributors
The Case Study Teams
Brief biographical information about team members is found in their respective
chapters. Team leaders are listed first. All three mathematics studies were coordinat-
ed by Norman Webb at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Setting the Standards: NCTM's Role in the Reform of Mathematics Education
Douglas B. McLeod Robert E. Stake
Bonnie P. Schappelle Mark J. Gierl
Melissa Mellissinos
San Diego State University University of Illinois at
Champaign-Urbana
Teaching and Learning Cross-Country Mathematics: A Story of Innovation
in Precalculus
Jeremy Kilpatrick
Lynn Hancock
Denise S. Mewborn
Lynn Stallings
University of Georgia
The Urban Mathematics Collaborative Project: A Study of Teacher, Community,
and Reform
Norman L. Webb
Daniel J. Heck
William F. Tate
University of Wisconsin-Madison
The Editors
Senta A. Raizen, Director of The National Center for Improving Science Education,
is principal investigator and editor of the U.S. case studies discussed in this and two
companion volumes. Raizen is the primary author of a number of books, reports, and
articles on science education in elementary, middle, and high school; indicators in
science education; preservice education of elementary school teachers; and technol-
ogy education. Her work also includes educational assessment and program evalua-
tion, education policy, reforming education for work, and linking education research
and policy with practice. She is principal investigator for NCISE research for the
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Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and serves on the
TIMSS International Steering Committee. Raizen directs NCISE evaluations of sev-
eral federal programs that support science education. She serves in an advisory
capacity to---among others-the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the
National Goals Panel, the National Institute for Science Education, and the National
Research Council.
Edward D. Britton, Associate Director of NCISE, serves as project director for sev-
eral international studies, including the work presented in this volume. He was lead
editor of Examining the Examinations: An International Comparison of Science and
Mathematics Examinations for College-Bound Students. Britton also works on sev-
eral aspects of TIMSS, including the U.S. and international curriculum analyses and
the international teacher and student questionnaires. In addition, he has managed
development of CD-ROM disks and videotapes designed to help elementary teach-
ers enhance their science knowledge and pedagogy. Britton has written on indicators
for science education, dissemination of innovations, and evaluation.
x
Preface
This book presents comprehensive results from case studies of three innovations
in mathematics education that have much to offer toward understanding current
reforms in this field. Each chapter tells the story of a case in rich detail, with
extensive documentation, and in the voices of many of the participants-the
innovators, the teachers, the students. Similarly, Volume 2 of Bold Ventures pre-
sents the results from case studies of five innovations in science education.
Volume 1 provides a cross-case analysis of all eight innovations.
Many U.S. readers certainly will be very familiar with the name of at least
one if not all of the mathematics innovations discussed in this volume-for
example, the NCTM Standards-and probably with their general substance.
Much of the education community's familiarity with these arises from the pro-
jects' own dissemination efforts. The research reported in this volume, however,
is one of the few detailed studies of these innovations undertaken by researchers
outside the projects themselves.
Each of the three studies was a large-scale effort involving teams of
researchers over three years. These teams analyzed many documents, attended
numerous critical project meetings, visited multiple sites, conducted dozens of
individual interviews. The team leaders (Kilpatrick, McLeod, Webb), having
spent much time with mathematics education over long careers, looked at these
innovations through many lenses. It was a daunting task for each team to sift
through the mountains of detail in order to bring the most compelling themes to
the surface. But through some exciting-if exhausting-meetings two or three
times each year as well as ongoing exchanges, the key storylines did become
clear. Deliberately, so as to let the stories emerge for the reader as they did for
the researchers, we have not enforced a uniform format on the case study reports.
In fact, at the request of some of its authors, chapter 1 on "Setting the
Standards" did not undergo the same editorial treatment as the other chapters
and has been included as submitted.
The Introduction gives a more detailed overview of the eight U.S. innova-
tions we studied and the resulting case studies. It is important to note here, how-
ever, that this substantial case study effort was part of a larger international
endeavor. Both the mathematics and science cases constituted the participation
of the United States in a study of educational innovations in science, mathemat-
ics and technology education that was undertaken by 13 member countries of the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The gene-
sis of the case study project was member countries' shared dissatisfaction with
the state of education in these school subjects; this led them to seek a contextual-
ized understanding of what innovations were under way to address this concern.
The result was the largest qualitative research project ever undertaken across
countries.
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