Learning By Doing: A Mathematics Curriculum for Elementary School Children and Their Teachers

Education Development Center, Waltham MA

Investigators

Abstract

This project addresses two challenges in elementary school mathematics improvement. First, it will provide a high quality mathematics curriculum that is aligned with national standards, promotes student understanding, and is acceptable to a wide range of elementary school teachers. Second, it proposes to advance teachers' mathematical understanding as they teach, and to accomplish this goal without the additional cost of extensive professional development. Following Liping Ma's belief that the right kinds of curriculum materials can help improve teachers' understanding of mathematics, the project will build on the existing Math Workshop materials to develop a dual-purpose curriculum, one that improves the understanding of both students and teachers. The evaluation of the project will assess not only student learning, but will also include extensive analyses of how the instructional and professional development materials promote teacher understanding.