An in-Service Program in Arithmetic

Abstract

best upgrade the mathematics background and the corresponding methodological skills of teachers in service? Some will say that this is not a new problem but a continuing one that has resulted in in-service programs of various kinds all over the country. This is true, but it is also true that never before has a change evolved so rapidly and so radically that teaching content and methods had to be updated promptly to permit the adoption of new textbooks and the procurement of appropriate teaching aids. Curriculum co-ordinators agree that the remarkable change we have witnessed in mathematics is not an isolated development. They sense similar breakthroughs in the social studies and the language arts, while the revolution in the teaching of foreign languages and science is already under way. Thus, we are faced with the need to carry out a tremendous in-service education program of national proportions. This urgent need is prompting a general search for a way to carry on the program efficiently and effectively. The study reported here explored one approach to in-service education. This approach provided consultant help and maximum opportunity for interaction and discussion by in-service teachers, consultants, and district curriculum leaders. The approach was developed in a California school district, which, with the help of funds secured under the National Defense Education Act, considered various ways of carrying out an in-service project on the teaching of arithmetic. The district was searching for ways that were effective and would make economical use of teachers' time.