NCSM Journal

NCSM JOURNAL OF MATHEMATICS EDUCATION LEADERSHIP

The following only link to a list of contents for each Journal, followed by the entire President's Message. NCSM Journals themselves are NOT available online until one year after their original publication date.

The following NCSM Journals are available in their entirety because one year has passed since their original publication date.

1998 Journals

1997 Journals


CALL FOR PAPERS

The editors of the NCSM Journal of Mathematics Education Leadership are interested in manuscripts that address concerns of leadership in mathematics education rather than those of content or delivery. Editors are interested in publishing articles from a broad spectrum of formal and informal leaders who practice at local, regional, national, and international levels.

Topics in Leadership*

Authors should address concepts, skills, and applications of good leadership and their importance to professionals responsible for mathematics education. Authors may discuss differences between leadership and management, the role each plays, and the difficulties when these differences are confused or overlooked.

Case Studies*

Vignettes describing an event in the work of a leader in mathematics can be helpful in developing discussions about factors affecting the success or failure of the event or activity. Case studies should pose questions about next steps, best courses of action, and ideas for improvement. The editors are also seeking leaders who will be willing to respond to these questions based on their experiences and expertise.

Program Summaries*

Articles should provide insight into processes involved in establishing initiatives in the areas such as, student achievement, curriculum development, professional development, program selection, parental involvement, community awareness, graduate and undergraduate education, and business and industry partnerships. Authors could discuss the interaction of stake holders at various levels including local, state, and national policy makers.

Research Studies*

Articles should summarize research studies that investigate specific issues and concepts, show intervention strategies, or report program results in the area of mathematics education leadership.

Critical issues in mathematics education*

Articles should reflect a firm position relative to an issue in mathematics education, e.g., a criticism which leaders should be aware of or a response to such criticism.

Problems and Solutions*

Articles should describe problems leaders encounter as they create, implement, modify, and sustain initiatives in mathematics education. Authors could describe authentic solutions to problems that they have encountered or propose solutions to existing problems.

Announcements of Events, Activities, or Programs

Agencies, schools, professional associations, and non-profit organizations may submit announcements of forthcoming events, activities or programs. Commercial announcements are not accepted.

*Submissions for these categories will be subject to the review procedures itemized below.

Submission/Review Procedures

In general, items for publication must be received at least TWELVE WEEKS PRIOR to the intended publication dates of October 1, January 1, April 1, and July 1.

For example, in order to be considered for the January issue, items have to be received by the editorial team no later than October 1.

Except for "Announcement", submittal of items for this publication must include three hard copies and a disk copy in text format. Do not put any author identification information in the body of the item being submitted, but do include author information as you would like to see it in the Journal.

Items submitted for publication will be reviewed by two members of the NCSM review panel and one editor with comments and suggested revisions being sent back to the author one month prior to the intended publication date.

Final copy must be agreed to at least three weeks before the publication date.

Mail submissions to:
Mark Driscoll
55 Chapel St., 2nd Fl.
Newton, MA 02458-1060

email: mdriscoll@edc.org

End of Call for Papers. Return to top of Call for Papers or top of this page.


MISSION STATEMENT

The NCSM Journal of Mathematics Education Leadership is the official publication of the National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics (NCSM), an organization of leaders in mathematics education. The purpose of the NCSM Journal of Mathematics Education Leadership is to serve the needs of this diverse, widely spread membership by:

Communication

Providing NCSM members and their colleagues with timely information about activities, opportunities, programs, and events that advance the goals of high standards and equity in mathematics;

Reasoned Dialog

Providing a forum for members and other stakeholders to discuss issues, present perspectives and rationale for their positions on those issues, and to document results of implementation efforts that center on mathematics education in order to promote understanding of and improvements in mathematics education;

Connections

Providing opportunities for NCSM members to identify and network with others who are similarly engaged for the purposes of collaboration and problem solving;

and

Problem Solving

Providing ideas, accounts of problem situations, and leadership tools to assist NCSM members in their roles as change agents and advocates for mathematics education.

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SPRING 1999 NCSM JOURNAL OF MATHEMATICS EDUCATION LEADERSHIP

The following lists the contents for this Journal, followed by the entire President's Message. The Journal itself is NOT available online.

Journal Contents

  • President's Message: I'm Excited
  • Advancing Problem Solving Behaviors
    By Joseph W. Spadano, Ed.D. (Westford Academy,Westford, Massachusetts) and Regina M. Panasuk (Associate Professor, Graduate School of Education, UMASS Lowell)

President's Message: "I'm Excited"

by Jerry Cummins

Not yet available.

End of Spring 1999 NCSM Journal. Return to top of this Journal or top of this page.


WINTER 1999 NCSM JOURNAL OF MATHEMATICS EDUCATION LEADERSHIP

The following lists the contents for this Journal, followed by the entire President's Message. The Journal itself is NOT available online.

Journal Contents

  • President's Message: Research on the Brain and Learning
  • Developing a New Eye for Mathematics Classrooms: Classroom Observation and Teacher Supervision
    By Barbara Scott Nelson, Annette Sassi, and Mark Driscoll
  • MathLine for Pre-Service Teachers
    By Dr. Cynthia L. Ramey, Central Missouri State University

President's Message: "Research on the Brain and Learning"

by Bonnie Hanson Walker

Not yet available.

End of Winter 1999 NCSM Journal. Return to top of this Journal or top of this page.


FALL 1998 NCSM JOURNAL OF MATHEMATICS EDUCATION LEADERSHIP

The following lists the contents for this Journal, followed by the entire President's Message. The Journal itself is NOT available online.

Journal Contents

  • President's Message: Thinking About Algebraic Thinking
    • Notice to All NCSM Members
    • Changing Our Name
  • Becoming a Teacher Leader in Mathematics Education
    By Nancy Nesbitt Vacc, University of North Carolina at Greensboro

President's Message: "Thinking About Algebraic Thinking"

by Bonnie Hanson Walker

I am privileged to serve on the Advisory Committee for PBS MATHLINE's Algebraic Thinking Mathematics Project. This work combined with the current efforts to define "algebraic thinking" and determine how it looks in the elementary grades prompted me to do a search through my several year collection of NCTM journals. In particular I went through the past copies of TEACHING CHILDREN MATHEMATICS. I rediscovered the February, 1997 issue which was a focus issue on what else? "Algebraic thinking!!!" It has been interesting and stimulating to review the articles in the journal in light of the issues we are still facing today.

In an article entitled, "Doing Algebra in Grades K-4" Dr. Zalman Usiskin reminisces about the movement to incorporate geometry into the elementary grades. He points out that the effort began in the early 1960's and at that time the idea of teaching children the kind of geometry teachers remembered from their own high school geometry experiences was met with "incredulity." Eventually we all came to realize that the geometry that was appropriate and needed for the elementary grades "fit in with the arithmetic that is the backbone of the curriculum" and also with other subject areas and our everyday life. Dr. Usiskin goes on to point out that today geometry begins in preschool for many children.

The article moves to a discussion of the reaction to the idea of including algebra in the elementary grades and draws parallels to the geometry movement. Again what has happened is we tend to think in terms of the secondary course in algebra we experienced and we envision "word problems, complicated equations and expressions, and what may have seemed to be meaningless manipulation of meaningless symbols on a page." Teachers were concerned on two accounts, one, a lack of self confidence in teaching algebra concepts, and two, a fear that "introducing algebra in the primary grades was the epitome of working with mathematical concepts too early, before students were ready." It seems to me that this is where we still are.

I finished reading the article which contains terms with explanations and examples and interesting curriculum from the Soviet Union. Dr. Usiskin states that "much of the difference between arithmetic and algebra is in the ways questions are couched." The entire article and this statement in particular stimulated me to continue reading other articles looking for additional ideas and perspectives about algebraic thinking.

Another article, "Preparing Students to Enter the Gate," by Michael Chappell states that the "content of algebraic thinking involves explicit links to students' knowledge of pre-number and arithmetic ideas." She says "students develop mathematical reasoning within an algebraic frame of mind by 'building meaning for the symbols and operations of algebra in terms of their knowledge of arithmetic' (Kieran and Chalouh 1993)." Michael believes that "allowing students in the elementary grades to have varied opportunities to represent patterns, make generalizations, and explore their conjectures could be instrumental in preventing the formulation of certain myths or dispelling them early on." She also believes that opening the gate to algebraic thinking in elementary school may be a way to close the gaps in achievement between males and females and different racial and ethnic groups. I find this interesting and worthy of continuing thought.

In yet another article, "A Foundation for Algebraic Reasoning in the Early Grades," Erna Yackel quotes John Smith III and Patrick Thompson, "We believe it is possible to prepare children for different views of algebra - algebra as modeling, as pattern finding, or as the study of structure - by having them build ways of knowing and reasoning which make those mathematical practices appear as different aspects of a central and fundamental way of thinking." The emphasis then is on the thinking and reasoning of the students rather than on whether the activity qualifies as being algebraic. Erna says this position is appropriate at the elementary level because it eliminates the need to focus on the "content" that would have to be included and emphasizes instead the nature of the children's thinking.

I could go on for a long time quoting from articles in this journal. They are thought-provoking and challenging and offer a variety of views on algebraic thinking and how it looks at the elementary grades. All of the articles contain explanations and illustrations of the author's perspective. Even though they were written in 1997 they are still valuable resources filled with what today we are calling "rich" mathematics.

If you have access to this journal I encourage you to reread the articles. You will get many excellent ideas and who knows, maybe like me you will get a better handle on what algebraic thinking is and how it looks!

Notice to All NCSM Members

by Bonnie Hanson Walker

As President of NCSM it is my responsibility to keep you informed of actions of the Board that directly affect you. This notice is to inform you that the Board is discussing and seriously considering an increase in dues and conference registration. If these increases are passed by the Board they will go into effect immediately.

The current dues and conference registration have not been sufficient to keep up with the spiraling costs that NCSM is experiencing. As we have increased member services and expanded conference offerings the associated costs have stretched our budget to the limit. We are closely and seriously examining ways to cut expenses but we must also search for ways to increase revenue.

Changing Our Name

by Bonnie Hanson Walker

For the last year the NCSM Board has been soliciting your input regarding changing the name of our organization. We offered feedback forms in the newsletter to which we have received only one or two responses. We have also taken your input at regional meetings and at the Leadership Academies.

At the annual conference in Washington, DC we requested your input once again, this time through a feedback form during one of the meal functions. Here is the input that was received: of the approximately 1300 attendees at the conference, 575 completed the feedback form. 407 voted yes for a name change. While this represents approximately 31% of those attending the conference it is about 14% of the current NCSM membership of 2859.

The Board entered into a lively discussion on this topic during the fall meeting held in early October. Input from our constituents, our own opinions and the feedback from the annual conference were all considered. Two main points surfaced: first, NCSM has name recognition nationally with other organizations including the US Department of Education, and second, the logo was redesigned in recent years to include the words "Leadership in Mathematics Education" in order to convey that the organization is not reserved for those in supervisory roles only, but seeks to include those in leadership roles at every level.

In light of the fact that the feedback represented only a small percentage of the membership and in view of the two main points that surfaced during the discussion the Board voted NO to changing the name at this time.

Please continue to give us direction and help us make decisions that meet the needs and suit the purposes of the entire NCSM membership.

End of Fall 1998 NCSM Journal. Return to top of this Journal or top of this page.


JULY 1998 NCSM JOURNAL OF MATHEMATICS EDUCATION LEADERSHIP

The following lists the contents for this Journal, followed by the entire President's Message. The Journal itself is NOT available online.

Journal Contents

  • President's Message: One of the Challenges We Face: Providing Effective Professional Development
  • Coaching from a Content Perspective
    By Anna O. Graeber, University of Maryland-College Park, and Susan Boyer, Maryland Collaborative for Teacher Preparation
  • Supporting Secondary Standards in Missouri Mathematics (S^3M^2)--A Project to Help Inform Mathematics Teachers in High School and College About Emerging 9-12 Curricula
    By Robert E. Reys, University of Missouri

President's Message: One of the Challenges We Face: Providing Effective Professional Development

by Bonnie Hanson Walker

The Eisenhower National Clearinghouse for Mathematics and Science Education has published a document entitled, ''Ideas that Work Mathematics professional Development."

The document contains four major sections as follows:

  • Section 1 Effective professional Development for Teachers of mathematics
  • Section 2 Summaries of 15 Strategies for professional Development
  • Section 3 Successful Programs
  • Section 4 Technical Assistance providers and Additional Programs

In the first section, which was written by Susan Loucks-Horsley, reference is made to The Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) which compared the mathematics and science achievement of a half-million students from 41 countries at the fourth, eighth, and twelfth grades. In mathematics, U.S. fourth graders performed above the international average, U.S. eighth graders performed slightly below the international average, and U.S. twelfth graders performed significantly below the international average.

One reason for this pattern of decline is that the content of U.S. curriculum is less demanding beginning around fourth grade and continuing through high school. The point here is that there is a serious need for more challenging mathematics content for students. The subsequent point then, is that teachers will also have to learn more challenging mathematics and how to teach it.

This is where we come in as leaders in mathematics education. It falls our lot, our responsibility, our privilege to provide the means by which the teachers with whom we work can learn the content and the strategies. The purpose of this publication is to suggest new ways of designing and implementing effective professional development to reach these goals. The design of the publication is for those who have some responsibility for designing or conducting professional development programs or initiatives. It is of major importance to know that the publication is for anyone interested in what is new and what works rather than with traditional approaches and plans for professional development. It also offers guidance about the kinds of programs that have the greatest likelihood of success.

Section 2, provides summaries of 15 strategies for professional development, including elements for design and implementation. Section 3 features descriptions of existing programs that effectively combine several of the strategies. Section 4 provides brief descriptive and contact information of organizations and projects that are working to offer educators training and information.

This publication is free from the ENC and may be acquired by calling (800) USA-LEARN. We have acquired enough copies for all NCSM members and will be sending them to you in the fall. We will continue with support in this area of professional development at our 1999 conference in San Francisco. We have invited Susan Loucks-Horsley to be one of the keynote speakers and anticipate an opportunity for continued growth during the conference.

Susan has written a book entitled, "Designing Professional Development for Teachers of Science and Mathematics." The idea behind the book evolved as experienced professional developers examined their practice. Rather than offering a few models to adopt or adapt, instead guidance is provided in the form of a design framework. Drawing on research, the literature, and the "wisdom" of experienced professional developers, what is offered are multiple "best practices" to assist professional developers in designing and strengthening their programs. The primary audience for this book is those who design, conduct, and support professional development for practicing teachers of mathematics and science. These professional developers are found in schools (as teacher leaders, advisors, mentors, administrators, and members of leadership teams); school district offices (as curriculum supervisors, coordinators, and staff developers), and the list goes on. All should find this book useful because it depicts best practice and how critical issues can be dealt with in different contexts.

This challenge of providing effective professional development programs is an immediate and important task. Just as with teaching we cannot continue doing the same type of professional development in the same ways and expect improved results. It is up to us to seek and implement what works. This is one resource and it is an excellent one. The book is published by Corwin Press, Inc. and costs $29.99 plus appropriate tax. Order information includes: call 805-499-9774, fax 805-499-0871, e-mail <order@corwinpress.com>, <http://www.corwinpress.com>.

End of July 1998 NCSM Journal. Return to top of this Journal or top of this page.


APRIL 1998 NCSM JOURNAL OF MATHEMATICS EDUCATION LEADERSHIP

The following lists the contents for this Journal, followed by the entire President's Message. The Journal itself is NOT available online.

Journal Contents

  • President's Message
  • Helping Teachers Implement Algebra for All in Milwaukee Public Schools
    By Mark Driscoll, John (Jack) Moyer, and Judith S. Zawojewski
  • Recurring Themes in Real Life Mathematics
    By Charles Mitchell and Elisabeth Riggs

President's Message

By Bonnie Hanson Walker

Dear Colleagues,

I hope you enjoyed the 30th annual conference as much as I did. My congratulations to Jerry Cummins and the Program Committee for a useful, informative and enjoyable opportunity for professional growth. During my years as a member of NCSM I have enjoyed many excellent programs but I believe this one was the best. Isn't it a source of pride that we keep on improving even if it is expected!

To those of you who attended the conference please accept my thanks for the warm and friendly reception given to my parents. They participated in every meeting in which I was involved listening and asking many questions afterward. They thanked me and you for having learned so much. I understand they caught their pastor in the grocery store and told him all about their experience. Word is probably out that Lou and David have a story to tell. Thank you all so much for your kind attention.

I want to thank Joanne Lobato and Randy Charles for the Future Basics monograph. How exciting and helpful to have this valuable document made available to us. I hope you will let Randy and Joanne know how valuable the monograph is to you.

As I think back to the 30th anniversary events I want to again thank Dr. Mary Ann Norton for updating and completely reformatting the commemorative booklet. You did a super job, as I knew you would, and I appreciate it very much. I also want to thank Mo Nelson for the "best ever" printed program and for registration and pre-registration and for taking care of a myriad of details. Mo, you are NCSM's secret weapon!

Thank you to the NCSM board for your work at the conference and all year. NCSM members, do you know who unpacks, stuffs and prepares those bags for you? Your board does! Get to know your board, so you can inform them and they can serve you. Hold us all responsible for serving you and supporting you in your work so that we all ultimately improve education for students. It is our desire to do our best for you. Please help us do so by letting us know what you need.

Let me close by giving you some important dates to keep in mind:

Standards 2000 Project Schedule

  • July 1997, Writing groups meet
  • 1997-98, Discussion, input, ongoing work
  • Summer 1998, Draft prepared
  • Fall 1998, Draft released in print and electronic formats
  • 1998-1999, Year of Dialogue
  • Summer 1999, Writing groups meet for final revisions
  • Spring 2000, Standards 2000 released

End of April 1998 NCSM Journal. Return to top of this Journal or top of this page.


JANUARY 1998 NCSM JOURNAL OF MATHEMATICS EDUCATION LEADERSHIP

The following lists the contents for this Journal, followed by the entire President's Message. The Journal itself is NOT available online.

Journal Contents

  • President's Message: The National Education Goals and Professional Development
  • Fulfilling the Call for Mathematics Education Reform
    By Laura R. VanZoest and Beth E. Ritsema
  • Enhancing the Field Experience Component in a Mathematics Teacher Preparation Program
    By Regina M. Panasuk, Joyce Cutler, and Mary M. Sullivan

President's Message: The National Education Goals and Professional Development

By Bonnie Hanson Walker

Like many of you I have just received a copy of the 1997 National Education Goals Report. This report is the seventh in a series designed to measure the amount of progress made by the nation and the states toward the eight National Education goals. We have included the National goals in this newsletter to help us keep them in the forefront of our minds. I will quote from the summary in this article, The National Education Goals Panel (NEGP), is a unique body of federal and state officials created in 1990 to assess and report state and national progress toward achieving the goals. In 1994 the Goals Panel became a fully independent federal agency charged with monitoring and speeding progress toward the eight goals. The Panel is charged with a variety of responsibilities to support system-wide reform, including:

  • Reporting on national and state progress toward the Goals over a 10-year period;
  • Working to establish a system of high academic standards and assessments;
  • Identifying actions for federal, state, and local governments to take; and
  • Building a nationwide, bipartisan consensus to achieve the Goals.

The report is available on-line <http://www.negp.gov>. Copies of the report are available at no charge from:

National Education Goals Panel
1255 22nd Street, NW, Suite 502
Washington, DC 20037
Phone: (202) 724-0015
Fax: (202) 632-0957

According to the Goals Report Summary we can draw three important conclusions from the recent TIMSS findings:

1. While our performance in 4th grade science shows that the Goals of being first in the world in mathematics and science is attainable, other areas show that we are far from being a world leader.

2. We will not reach the Goal if we do not expect more from our students.

3. We will not reach the Goal if we do not create the conditions that will enable our teachers to teach well.

The NEGP suggests that policy makers, educators, business leaders, parents and the public must work together to do three things if we want to raise mathematics and science achievement to world-class levels.

1. Set tougher standards for students in mathematics and science that are comparable to the best in the world.

2. Align other components of the education system with the standards, including curricula, instruction, textbooks, assessments, and school policies.

3. Strengthen teachers' subject-matter knowledge and teaching skills in mathematics and science, and move state teacher policies more in line with instructional goals embedded in state standards.

This third suggestion is the one I will dwell on in the rest of my article. It is of special interest to me at this time in light of our professional development initiative. According to the Summary one of the most extensive analyses of data on teachers found that differences in expertise accounted for nearly 40% of the differences in student test scores. This was found to have a greater impact than any other factor including parent education, family income, and other socioeconomic characteristics. We know that unless we also strengthen the preparation and continuing professional development of our teachers all other efforts will still fail to raise our students' achievement to world-class levels. Research consistently shows that teacher expertise is the most important factor in raising student achievement. Research also consistently shows that the quality of teacher training matters enormously. It comes as no surprise that teachers who are trained in both their subject area and in teacher skills and who are fully certified are rated more highly and are more successful at raising student achievement than teachers with inadequate preparation.

The National Commission on Teaching and America's Future has proposed five recommendations to improve and professionalize teaching:

1. Get serious about standards, for both students and teachers.

2. Reinvent teacher preparation and professional development.

3. Fix teacher recruitment and put qualified teachers in every classroom.

4. Encourage and reward teacher knowledge and skill.

5. Create schools that are organized for student and teacher success.

Some states have already implemented these kinds of education reforms as part of their efforts to raise student achievement. Connecticut and North Carolina have developed some of the most comprehensive approaches. Connecticut raised minimum salaries for beginning teachers, set tougher standards for teacher licensing, created new performance-based examinations, implemented a mentoring program for beginning teachers, invested in training for the mentor teachers, and required teachers to earn a master's degree in education to obtain a continuing license. Connecticut also provided grants to universities to redesign teacher education programs and eliminated permanent teacher licenses, requiring instead that teachers continue to earn credits for course work or other forms of professional development for relicensure.

North Carolina's approach included raising minimum salaries, requiring all schools of education to be accredited, implementing a mentoring program for beginning teachers, recruiting prospective teachers to enter teacher preparation programs by offering financial support for their training, creating professional development academies, and offering veteran teachers an array of incentives to encourage them to seek advanced certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.

Did these investments yield tangible results? The evidence suggests that they did. There are more teachers in North Carolina who are Board-certified than in any other state. And North Carolina students have made some of the largest gains in the nation in reading and mathematics since teacher reforms were implemented. Connecticut students also made substantial gains and continue to score among the top states in the U.S. in reading and mathematics, despite an increase in poverty in the state. And Connecticut now has teacher surpluses instead of teacher shortages.

As leaders in mathematics education it is our responsibility to support and carry forward the effort to improve and professionalize teaching. Recommendation 2 is in part about reinventing teacher professional development. I have had the opportunity to work with the Texas Statewide Systemic Initiative on a professional development initiative for the last year. I have read a great deal of literature on effective professional development and would like to share some of it with you. One of the most interesting articles I read was the May, 1996 National Institute for Science Education (NISE) Brief. The article was written by Susan Loucks-Horsley, Katherine Stiles, and Peter Hewson and describes the findings when the Professional Development Project of the NISE explored whether science, mathematics, and professional development communities share a common understanding of what effective professional learning experiences look like, and how teacher development should be nurtured. They found that there is a shared vision and according to the shared vision, the best professional development experiences include the following seven principles:

1. They are driven by a clear, well-define image of effective classroom learning and teaching.

2. They provide teachers with opportunities to develop knowledge and skills and broaden their teaching approaches, so they can create better learning opportunities for students.

3. They use instructional methods to promote learning for adults which mirror the methods to be used with students.

4. They build or strengthen the learning community of science and mathematics teachers.

5. They prepare and support teachers to serve in leadership roles if they are inclined to do so. As teachers master the skills of their profession, they need to be encouraged to step beyond their classrooms and play roles in the development of the whole school and beyond.

6. They consciously provide links to other parts of the educational system.

7. They include continuous assessment.

The article expands on each of the principles offering specific examples that give the reader a clear, useful understanding of the information. This article and other works by Susan Loucks-Horsley and colleagues support the information I found as I studied the literature on effective professional development. I am in the process of seeking funding to provide NCSM members with useful information and training on designing and implementing effective professional development experiences for teachers of mathematics. Stay tuned and watch your mailbox.

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