Elementary

Note: A previous version of this paper was presented at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Research Pre-Session in San Diego (April 2010) and the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association in Denver (April 2010).

Note: A previous version of this paper was presented at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Research Pre-Session in San Diego (April 2010) and the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association in Denver (April 2010).

The construct professional noticing of children’s mathematical thinking is introduced as a way to begin to unpack the in-the-moment decision making that is foundational to the complex view of teaching endorsed in national reform documents. We define this expertise as a set of interrelated skills including (a) attending to children’s strategies, (b) interpreting children’s understandings, and (c) deciding how to respond on the basis of children’s understandings.

America is home to extraordinary assets in science, engineering, and mathematics that, if properly applied within the educational system, could revitalize student interest and increase proficiency in these subjects and support an American economic renewal, according to a new report from an independent council of Presidential advisors.