LEARNING TO TEACH MATHEMATICS IN THE CONTEXT OF SYSTEMIC REFORM

This article looks at how teachers understand recent mathematics refor ms. Case studies of three California teachers in a disadvantaged, urba n elementary school are presented. Framing the study are issues of tea cher learning and systemic reform. These teachers have access to multi ple opportunities to learn about reforms. But access guarantees no com mon understandings. Teachers' understandings are influenced by the kin ds of students they have, their prior knowledge and experience, their views of mathematics, textbooks and tests. If teachers understand refo rms in different ways, this raises questions about systemic reform and the notion of alignment. But there are other problems as well. Questi ons about what it means to be aligned, how all students' needs might b e considered, and what the multiple goals of a decentralized system me an for teachers suggest that efforts at systemic reform will be challe nged on several fronts.