California Dreaming: Reforming Mathematics Education

Description

This compelling book tells the history of the past two decades of efforts to reform mathematics education in California. That history is a contentious one, full of such fervor and heat that participants and observers often refer to the “math wars.” Suzanne M. Wilson considers the many perspectives of those involved in math reform, weaving a tapestry of facts, philosophies, conversations, events, and personalities into a vivid narrative. While her focus is on California, the implications of her book extend to struggles over education policy and practice throughout the United States. Wilson’s three-dimensional account of math education reform efforts reveals how the debates tend to be deeply ideological and how people come to feel misunderstood and misrepresented. She examines the myths used to explain the failure of reforms, the actual reasons for failure, and the importance of taking multiple perspectives into account when planning and implementing reform. Contents Preface Acknowledgments 1. Curriculum Wars 2. “Ours Is Not to Reason Why. Just Invert and Multiply”: School Mathematics and Its Critics 3. Capturing Professional Consensus: The California State Department, 1983–1990 4. Earlier Reforms and Their Legacies 5. Networks and Their Leaders: Broadcasting and Shaping Reform 6. Riding the Tiger: The California State Department, 1990–1992 7. The Tide Turns: 1993–1995 8. Dueling Standards 9. Parsnips and Orchids Side by Side: A View from the Classroom 10. Toward a Civil, Constructive Discourse Methodological Appendix Timeline Notes Index