Title: Standards-Based Curricula: Implications for Teacher Education Programs
Speaker: Elizabeth A. Phillips

Many of the new "Standards-based" curricula are developed around "big mathematical ideas" that are embedded in problem settings. A problem-centered curriculum calls for an instructional model that encourages higher level thinking and problem solving and that has at its core making sense of mathematics and its uses. New demands are being placed on teachers by "Standards-based" curricula. Teachers must be prepared to evaluate on the spot what conjectures are valid and worth pursuing, redirect the conversation and make connections to other areas of mathematics or other situations. To teach mathematics through rich problem contexts requires the teacher to have a deeper knowledge and broader view of mathematics. This talk will discuss the demands placed on teachers by these new curricula and the implications for teacher education programs.