The Origins of the JRME: A Retrospective Account

Abstract

This article presents a hitory of the origins of the Journal for Research in Marhematics Education (JRME) published by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). Written by three of the many persons responsible for initiating the journal, this account is based on minutes of meetings, notes from files, and personal recollections of the events and persons involved in the deliberations over a quarter of a century ago. David C. Johnson, then at the University of Minnesota, was the first editor of the JRME (Volumes 1 to 4). Thomas A. Romberg was chair of NCTM's Research Advisory Commillee, which wrote the proposal arguing-that a research journal was both needed and an appropriate publication for NCTM to undertake. Joseph M. Scandura was the editor of Research in Mathematics Education, a special NCTM publication designed to determine the feasibility of publishing a research journal. We are confident that this retrospective account in general captures the issues and events leading to the decisions to publish the JRME.