The United States has a vision of a reformed educational system with reconstructed science and mathematics teaching and learning. These four federally funded organizations represent three important components of an educational reform effort - research, the maintenance of information resources, and implementation. In an urban initiative to enrich the science education of minority children the process of involving parents has assumed greater importance than increased science learning. There is a strong consensus for integration across the curriculum. However, in a meeting of individuals committed to integrating mathematics and science learning there were different views of what constitutes integration.
Problem solving and enquiry based learning have core importance in science reform efforts.
Simultaneously there is a question of whether these tools may also hinder science learning, especially as the subject matter becomes more abstract. These and related problems have led the Center to discussions on the purposes of reform. We bring some of that discussion to this newsletter in order to clarify our thoughts and to challenge those of the readers. For this discussion we start with the following premise. Educational needs as seen from these different positions must be complementary.