This project will carry out an invitational conference for 35 U.S. and Russian experts in mathematics education, mathematics, materials development and psychology in late January, 2002. The conference will determine the usefulness of the Elkonin-Davydov mathematics curriculum for the U.S. The conference, a collaborative project of a non-profit organization with expertise in international education (Best Practices in Education) and the University of Hawaii's Curriculum Research and Development Group, is expected to be the first phase of a multi-year effort in curriculum analysis, materials development, field testing and professional development. The project will investigate how the key features of the Russian (Elkonin-Davydov) curriculum, with its emphasis on mathematics as an integrated whole and its foundation in Russian research on mathematics learning, make it responsive to concerns that traditional U.S. curricula are fragmented and lack a sound basis in research. The results of the project will be published by Information Age Publishing Company.
