Workshop

MSRI Publications - Volume 53 Schedule now available.  First Workshop in a new MSRI Series on Critical Issues in Mathematics Education This workshop will begin at 1:30 pm on Sunday, March 7, and officially end at 12:15 pm on Wednesday, March 10. At 1:30 pm on Wednesday, there will be a two-hour post-conference presentation by Robert Moses, Founder and President of The Algebra Project, and colleagues, on Children Left Behind: New Curricula, Large Scale Assessment and the Algebra Project. Concerns about student understanding have led to growing demands for accountability, and to "high stakes" tests both for systems and for individual students, with serious sanctions and consequences for failure. But the nature of these assessments themselves is controversial. What should students know to be judged mathematically proficient? How well do assessments of various types uncover and measure such knowledge? How does "teaching to the test" affect learning, for better or for worse? The workshop will bring together mathematicians, mathematics education researchers, psychologists and other social scientists, classroom teachers and school leaders, designers of assessment tools, policymakers, and journalists to examine student assessment in mathematics. Discussions will focus on: the nature of mathematical proficiency and what is worth measuring; purposes and needs for mathematics assessment; challenges of designing meaningful, useful assessments; supporting instruction; issues of equity, sensitivity to culture, and pressures on urban and high-poverty schools; and the intended and unintended consequences of high stakes testing. Activities will include: a live interview assessment of a student's mathematical understanding; learning about different tests, technologies, and methods, within the U.S. and internationally, and what each provides; and analyses of the needs, and the costs and benefits of different approaches to assessment. Confirmed presenters include: Bruce Alberts, President, National Academy of Sciences; Michèle Artigue, Professor, Université de Paris VII; Richard Askey, Professor of Mathematics, University of Wisconsin; Deborah Loewenberg Ball, Professor, University of Michigan; Hyman Bass, Professor, University of Michigan; Timothy A. Boerst, South Redford Public Schools, Michigan, and Center for Proficiency in Teaching Mathematics, University of Michigan; Heidi Boley, Berkeley Unified School District; Hugh Burkhardt, Mathematics Assessment Resource Service, University of Nottingham; Michael Cohen, Director, ACHIEVE; Phil Daro, Tools Project, University of California, Berkeley; David Eisenbud, Director, MSRI; Lily Wong Fillmore, Professor, University of California at Berkeley; Linda Fisher, Director, Mathematics Assessment Collaborative; David Foster, Program Director of Mathematics, Noyce Foundation; Ross Green, CTB McGraw Hill; Roger Howe, Yale University; Jan de Lange, Director, Freudenthal Institute, University of Utrecht; Jim Lewis, Professor of Mathematics, University of Nebraska at Lincoln; Bernie Madison, Professor, University of Arkansas; William McCallum, Professor of Mathematics, University of Arizona; James Milgram, Professor of Mathematics, Stanford University; Judit Moschkovich, Professor, University of California at Santa Cruz; Robert Moses, Founder and President, the Algebra Project, Inc.; Judith Ramaley, Assistant Director, Education and Human Resources Directorate, National Science Foundation; Mark Saul, Program Manager, Division of Elementary, Secondary, and Informal Education, National Science Foundation; Alan H. Schoenfeld, Professor, University of California at Berkeley; Susan Sclafani, Acting Assistant Secretary, Office of Vocational and Adult Education, Department of Education; Ann Shannon, Consultant, Oakland, CA; Lee Shulman, President, The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching; Finbarr C. Sloane, Program Director, Directorate for Education & Human Resources, Division of Research, Evaluation & Communication, National Science Foundation; Elizabeth Stage, Director, Lawrence Hall of Science, Berkeley, California; Elizabeth Taleporos, Senior Director of English Language Arts Testing Services, Harcourt Assessment, Inc., San Antonio, TX; Uri Treisman, Professor of Mathematics, University of Texas­–Austin; Alan Tucker, Professor of Mathematics, State University of New York at Stony Brook; Mark Wilson, Professor, University of Chicago; Hung-Hsi Wu, Professor of Mathematics, University of California at Berkeley This series of workshops is being developed by MSRI's Educational Advisory Committee: Deborah Loewenberg Ball (University of Michigan); Bruce Alberts (National Academy of Sciences); Michèle Artigue (Université de Paris VII); Hyman Bass (University of Michigan); Jim Lewis (University of Nebraska-Lincoln); Robert Moses (The Algebra Project Inc.); Alan H. Schoenfeld (University of California at Berkeley; Lee Shulman (The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching). This workshop is supported by grants from the Directorate for Education and Human Resources, National Science Foundation, the Microsoft Corporation, the Noyce Foundation, and the Spencer Foundation. KQED Forum with David Eisenbud, Deborah Ball, Oaz Nir and Robert Moses. Hosted by Michael Krasny