ABSTRACT
In a spirit of stimulating new directions and collaborations, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Research Agenda Project Conference on the Learning and Teaching of Algebra brought together cognitive psychologists, mathematicians, mathematics educators, researchers, evaluators, and curriculum developers in a true wedding of minds. Curriculum developers have for some time acknowledged the need for teacher training, but this training has tended to be as rote as the procedures it attempts to eradicate. A better understanding of the role of students' cognitions and behaviors in their learning is a necessary but not sufficient condition to improve the learning of algebra. The model is also like a fractal—in each triad there are complementary and conflicting forces for curriculum change. For example, algebra is only one of the students' academic courses. The students are also integrated into science, English, and social studies curriculum models.
