ABSTRACT
Secondary mathematics has infrequently been studied by literacy researchers, and literacy has infrequently been studied by mathematics researchers (Sturtevant, 1997). Indeed, in many schools and universities, literacy and mathematics are located in totally different departments or buildings, with little cross-communication. Recently, however, each group has begun to explore and advocate a variety of literacy related teaching strategies for mathematics education. In its national standards documents, for example, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (1989) emphasized the benefits of a constructivist curriculum in which students use both real-life materials and oral and written language to learn and communicate about mathematics. Likewise, literacy educators have moved from conceptions of content area reading that emphasize textbook comprehension and reten-tion of facts to definitions of literacy that view reading, writing, and other forms of communication as tools for learning in every content area (International Reading Association [IRA]/National Council of Teachers of English [NCTE], 1996).
