| Engaging Young Children
in Mathematics The report of the conference has been published as a book, available now. You can order online by clicking here for hardcover or here for paperback (or click here for a brochure). The reference is as follows. Clements, D. H., Sarama, J., & DiBiase, A.-M. (Eds.). (2004). Engaging young children in mathematics: Standards for early childhood mathematics education. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. The book has several components: (a) a Preface, (b) Part One, Major Themes and Recommendations, (c) Part Two, a collection of chapters by authorities in various fields, and (d) Appendices, which are available below and are only available here on the Web site. Part One, Major Themes and Recommendations, consists of conclusions drawn from the expertise shared at the Conference and specific recommendations for mathematics education for young children. These recommendations provide specific guidelines for policy, curriculum, and teaching, and thus are intended to facilitate the creation of standards and curriculum materials for early childhood mathematics that are consistent and inclusive, rather than incoherent and competing, and therefore are developmentally appropriate attainable yet challenging for young children. Part Two includes (a) a compilation of papers written by the invited presenters, organized into coherent sections and (b) introductory notes by the editors introducing and connecting these papers. Both parts are organized into five sections. Standards in Early Childhood Education deals with general policy and pedagogical issues related to the creation and use of standards for young children, including different types of standards and the advantages and disadvantages of standards for the early childhood years. Mathematics Standards and Guidelines includes research summaries about young childrenŐs development and learning of specific mathematical topics and builds on this knowledge base to describe the "big ideas" of important mathematical topics at four progressive levels of detail, designed for different audiences. Curriculum and Teaching includes descriptions of curriculum and instructional approaches that have been supported by research and practice. The Professional Development section describes research that addresses the dire need for better preparation of teachers and child care workers. Finally, Towards the Future: Implementation and Policy presents issues and recommendations that we believe must be considered when putting all these recommendations into practice. The appendix is available here only (see below). These include several valuable additions. The first two articles are reactions to the conference from two participants taking different perspectives, Debra Borkovitz and Jennifer Ware. The third and fourth items are the agendas that were followed for the main and follow-up conferences. The fifth item is a useful document on state standards (compiled by Ann-Marie DiBiase), which includes links to each U.S. State’s web site for educational standards, as well as personal contact information for a representative from each of the States. The last is a full set of biographical sketches for the book's authors and for other Conference panelists. Appendices
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