Research efforts in some areas of mathematics education have developed to a point where consensus is needed to establish a conceptual framework to guide future inquiry. The Research Advisory Committee of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics has identified four such areas: teaching and learning of middle school number concepts, effective mathematics teaching, the teaching and learning of algebra, and the teaching and evaluation of problem solving. The proposed project will establish working groups in these areas. Each of the four groups will meet for a four day conference to consider the significant issues in the area. Each conference will feature presentations by authors of invited papers, small group discussion sessions, and plenary sessions. The purposes of these conferences are to synthesize the current knowledge base in each area, identify significant directions for future research, and develop collegial research groups. Four monographs, one from each working group conference, will disseminate invited papers, conference proceedings, and the research agendas established by the conference participants. A fifth monograph will contain a variety of viewpoints on the proceedings and resulting agendas through retrospective papers by members of the project advisory council.
