Quick Takes: Improving Mathematics Education: What Can We Learn from International Studies?

Each Quick Take explores one important issue concerning the reform of mathematics and science education. Schools may use Quick Takes to communicate with their important audiences: parents, other community members, the media, and any other groups the school thinks might need information about their work. This Spring 2005 edition examines results of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Many educators wonder whether studies comparing math teaching and learning in the U.S. and other countries offer anything more than fuel for political debates. Given differences in culture, as well as educational structures and practices, is it foolish to think that foreign methods and curricula can be transplanted to American soil, or are there ways to make practical use of the information?

Quick Takes editions:

• Improving Mathematics Education: What Can We Learn from International Studies?
• What is the Best Way to Monitor My Child's Progress in Mathematics and Science?
• Calculators in the Classroom
• Tracking Decisions Change Lives