Introduction

Abstract

The last dozen years have been ones of both challenge and excitement for mathematics education—challenge because, on the whole, students’ mathematics achievement continues to be disappointing, excitement because of the significant reform efforts that have been undertaken. This volume of Bold Ventures presents case studies of three such reform efforts: the Contemporary Precalculus course, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Standards, and the Urban Mathematics Collaboratives (UMC). Because of their promise for improving stu-dent learning in mathematics, while representing different approaches to reform, these three innovations were selected for intensive study. Along with the five science innovations discussed in volume 2, they comprise the participation of the United States in the largest cross-national case study project ever undertaken, the international context of which is described later in this chapter. This volume provides the full, rich detail of the stories these mathematics innovations have to tell and what lessons can be learned from them. Volume 1 of Bold Ventures presents our cross-case analysis of all eight studies.