Informal and formal observations of a second grade classroom of 25 students indicated that students did not remain on task for any substantial length of time when given an assignment, had poor work habits, and were lacking in discipline. The classroom teacher spent most of her time disciplining students in a negative manner for lack of on-task…

As reformers urge elementary and secondary school teachers to teach mathematics in new ways that highlight problem solving and engage students in important mathematical ideas, researchers have been pointing out that few public school teachers know mathematics in the ways that they would need to know it in order to teach in these new ways. These…