ABSTRACT
The publication of Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics by the National Council Teachers of Mathematics in 1989 marked the beginning of a large-scale endeavor to reform mathematics education. The success of this effort hinges on the effectiveness of attempts to provide education and support for teachers to prepare them to carry out this reform in their classrooms. Because the perspectives on mathematics, learning, and teaching that characterize this reform are radically different from those that underlie traditional school mathematics (Cobb, Wood, Yackel, & McNeal, 1992), the challenge to create appropriate educational opportunities for practicing and prospective teachers, themselves products of traditional school mathematics, is great.
