Knowing and Teaching Elementary Mathematics
By Richard Askey

Elementary school mathematics, it turns out, is not so elementary. This means that teaching it well requires much deeper mathematical knowledge than almost everyone has thought. There will be no math reform unless we provide teachers with the training, textbooks, time, and support needed to develop this knowledge.

Basic Skills Versus Conceptual Understanding
A Bogus Dichotomy in Mathematics Education
By H. Wu

In mathematics, skills and understanding are completely intertwined. There is not "conceptual understanding" and "problem-solving skill" on the one hand and "basic skills" on the other. Nor can one acquire the former without the latter. This false dichotomy impedes efforts to improve math education.

Teacher Time
By Marty Shollenberger Swaim and Stephen C. Swaim

A secondary school teacher with a typical workload who puts in a 50-hour week has approximately 10 minutes to prepare for each class and five minutes per week to review each student's work. And elementary school teachers face the same time bind. Go figure.

Different Strokes for Different Folks?
A Critique of Learning Styles
By Steven A. Stahl

People are different. Certainly people might learn differently from each other; and we should structure our teaching accordingly. This sounds so reasonable. But it isn't.

Organizing.com
New Unions for the New Economy
By David Kusnet

Things aren't all rosy for workers at Microsoft, Amazon.com, and other high-tech companies. Familiar problems—and new ones—are giving rise to a variety of employee organizations.

Why Read?
By Jim Burke

If you have students who say books are boring—or worse—here are some letters from ordinary folks that might make them think again.