Articles Parents and the Reform of School Mathematics by Dominic Peressini National Center for Research in Mathematical Sciences Education Researchers working with the school-level study have been investigating the complex role of parents as supporters of change or impediments to change in school mathematics. The parents interviewed by project staff realize that children of all ages are encountering more and different kinds of mathematics than they received during their school years.
Most parents support the changes.
They are unsure, however, of the rationale, content, and expected outcomes of the changes in mathematics instruction. The activities that make up a reformed mathematics lesson are unsettling to some parents. Students in these classes have more control and more responsibility for their learning. They often complete tasks that engage them in debates with other class members or in small group discussions. Parents of these students experienced mathematics in conventional classes characterized by a quiet sense of perseverance and monotony.