Elementary Teacher Development

Sheila Sconiers, Director

Summer 2008 - This site is under construction! Please visit again to learn about past and present UCSMP elementary teacher development efforts. In the meantime, check out the Everyday Mathematics Center's resources for Professional Development.

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.