Hung-Hsi Wu is a professor emeritus of mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley. In this article, Wu explains how vital the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics will be if brought to life in classrooms.
ABSTRACT: For many teachers, mathematics is a frightening subject. They are right to be afraid: most math standards are incoherent and virtually all textbooks contain many errors. Worse, teacher education in mathematics, both pre- and in-service, tends to be light on mathematics content that is relevant to the K-12 classroom. Solving these problems will take enormous effort, but the Common Core State Mathematics Standards are an important first step. Unlike most other standards, these have the potential to logically and coherently build students' knowledge of mathematics. Bringing these standards to life in classrooms will require a new partnership between mathematicians and educators so that correct mathematics and effective pedagogy can be written into brand new (not revised!) teacher education programs and student textbooks.
Wu has served on the National Mathematics Advisory Panel and has written extensively on mathematics curriculum, textbooks, and teacher preparation. Since 2000, he has conducted professional development institutes for elementary and middle school teachers. He has worked extensively with the state of California in mathematics education, and was a member of the Mathematics Steering Committee that contributed to revising the National Assessment of Educational Progress Framework. In recent years, he has focused on writing textbooks for professional development of K-12 mathematics teachers.
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http://www.aft.org/pdfs/americaneducator/fall2011/Wu.pdf