Seventy-five Years of Progress: Prospects for School Mathematics

School Science and Mathematics, Jan 1999 by Sheffield, Linda Jensen

Seventy-five Years of Progress: Prospects for School Mathematics

Editor

Iris M. Carl

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Inc. 1906 Association Dr. Reston, VA 22091-1593 1995; 340 pages Hardback; $20

Reviewer

Linda Jensen Sheffield Northern Kentucky University Highland Heights, KY 41099

Seventy-five Years of Progress: Prospects for School Mathematics was a gift from the Mathematics Education Trust (MET), the education foundation of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), in celebration of the NCTM's 75th anniversary. It contains 21 chapters written by a wide range of researchers and analysts from business and government as well as from education. The essays examine the progress made in the United States in mathematics education in the last 75 years and delineate areas where progress is still needed. Chapters in the book are divided into four major sections: ("Students," "Teachers and Teaching," "Content," and "Context") that not only look back on the last 75 years of progress but also look forward to the next century.

Throughout the book, there is a focus on raising standards for and empowering all students and their teachers. Several suggestions are given for all students from the primary level through high school from all cultures and both genders to become more actively involved in doing, understanding, and communicating their knowledge about mathematics. Chapters in the "Teachers and Teaching" section include such issues as recruiting more minorities into the teaching profession, as well as questions of preservice teacher preparation and continuing professional development including the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Although this book was written before results were available from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), several of the chapters in the content and context sections address issues similar to those from TIMSS, such as the content of the mathematics being taught, the methods of teaching, and the culture of the communities in which and for which schools function.

Many of the chapters in the book raise critical reform issues that all mathematics and science educators should consider as we prepare for the 21 st century. We still have a long way to go in developing teachers and students who can lead the technological world, and this book at least suggests some of the questions and answers that we must deal with along the way.