Lesley College and BBN Laboratories propose to organize an invited conference series on the use of modeling in precollege education. The purpose is two-fold. First, to significantly increase the level of communication among acknowledged experts in the field - concerned teachers, educational researchers, curriculum and software developers, and practicing mathematicians and scientists. The second is to produce a research and planning agenda that policy makers can use to prioritize funding of research and implementation projects. A small group of key participants, representing teachers, researchers, developers, and scientists, will form the steering committee to guide in the selection of conference participants. The two conferences will be held one year apart, with work groups established during the first conference to gather data for writing the final guide for policy makers. Immediately after the first conference an anthology of papers contributed by invitees will be published as a statement of current understandings about using modeling and simulations in the precollege environment.
