Main Conference
Main Conference: A Successful Collaboration
Our Conference on Standards for Preschool and Kindergarten Mathematics Education, funded by the ExxonMobil Foundation and the National Science Foundation (NSF), was held May 15-17, in Arlington, VA. One of the main goals of this conference was to bring consistency to the many standards and guidelines across the U.S., and thus help create developmentally appropriate curricula. The gathering brought together diverse groups of people, including the following:
Representative from state departments of education and from the U.S. Department of Education
Mathematicians
Early childhood educators (including ExxonMobilÕs teacher-leaders)
Early childhood policy makers and researchers (including NAEYC)
Mathematics education researchers
Mathematics teachers
Curriculum developers
Representatives from NCTM, including employees and the PreK-grade 2 writing group of the newly-released Principles and Standards for School Mathematics (PSSM)
Representatives from the ExxonMobil and National Science Foundation
A list of all 107 participants, including biographical sketches for all presenters and panelists, can be found at this web site.
What did the presenters, panelist, and participants discuss?
Topics included standards for preschool and kindergarten math education; initial number and quantitative concepts; number and operation; geometry and measurement; the role of algebra, data analysis statistics, and probability; mathematics curricula for young children; problem solving, reasoning, communication, connections, and representations; implementation and communication. Following each set of expert panel presentations, participants convened in break-out sessions to discuss the issues that emerged in the whole-group sessions.
What were the participant's evaluations of the main conference?
Feedback from the participants highlighted that the conference proved to be an exceptionally rewarding experience, both professionally and personally to participants. Here is a sample of quotes.
"Thanks so much for all your work to make this experience possible for those of us in the trenches. It was fascinating to meet so many dedicated professional and talk about something other than dinosaurs and Pokeman."
"I came away from the conference with substantially new information and a new outlook on how to thin about early childhood curriculum for below kindergarten."
"I found it stimulating and a great learning experience for me. I met many interesting people, learned about Early Childhood from a number of perspectives and found the research fascinating. I continue to have many thoughts about what was discussed, could have been said, and what needs to be discussed in the future."
We extend our appreciation to all participants who to such contributed high-spirited dialogue.
Retrospective and Prospective
The Conference on Standards for Preschool and Kindergarten Mathematics Education provided the unique opportunity for federal and state educational agencies to ensure that young children will receive the most enriching mathematics education possibleÑone that is mathematically and developmentally appropriate and sound. We believe that the work that transpired at the main conference will be critical to achieving common, efficacious standards and goals. Further, evaluations from conference participants showed that the conference was successful in developing a rich communicative context. That is, ideas were openly shared and the presentation of research and other current work in the field appeared to enhance the knowledge of the participants. The follow-up meeting, in Texas, provided participants with an opportunity to blend these ideas, and in the process work toward the formulation of an executive report. This final report, with recommendations, will constitute a set of guidelines that will enable standards writing groups to create consistent and complementary standards, which are based on understanding of current research, practice and policy in early childhood mathematics education.
