Welcome to this special theme issue of the AMS Notices, which highlights the many possible roles of mathematicians in precollege education

摘要

Sybilla Beckman's piece offers a rare and valuable frog's-eye view of amathematician who has spent significant time and effort working directlyin an elementary school classroom. Dan Fendel discusses his work, slightlyremoved from the classroom, developing a high school curriculum for theInteractive Mathematics Program. Ed Dubinsky and Robert Moses writeabout curriculum development and also about its implementation, makingimportant connections between mathematics teaching and the civil rightsmovement. Jim Lewis and Ruth Heaton, as well as Ira Papick, write aboutteacher preparation, and particularly about professors of education andmathematics collaborating to develop exemplary practices. Hung-Hsi Wu'spiece also addresses teacher preparation. It offers valuable insights into therole that research mathematicians can play in certifying teacher contentknowledge and gives an historical overview of the development of teachereducation policy. My own contribution on the International MathematicalOlympiad describes a venue for mathematicians that is less widely knownin the United States than in other countries. It describes work with thoseprecollege students who are most likely to become our next generation ofmathematicians.