Elementary Teacher Development

Sheila Sconiers, Director

Early mathematics instruction should be informal and integrated into children's everyday world in order to take advantage of their intuitive grasp of mathematics. A generalist teacher who has the child for most of the day can ensure this. Beyond the primary grades, when the curricular content becomes more formalized, and it is less critical for the child to have the same teacher for the entire day, elementary teachers need a deeper understanding of mathematics than they ordinarily possess. Since substantial improvement of the mathematical skills of all middle-grade teachers is not feasible, UCSMP advocates math specialists beginning in grade 4.

Please check out the Everyday Mathematics Center's resources for Professional Development.