AMS Congressional Lunch Briefing 7/26/01

Washington, D.C.

A standing-room-only crowd of about eighty packed the latest AMS lunch briefing for Members of Congress and their staff on Capitol Hill, July 26, 2001.  Co-sponsored by long-time mathematics supporter, Congressman Vernon J. Ehlers (R-MI), our topic -- a briefing on the National Research Council Report Adding It Up: Helping Children Learn Mathematics -- was a timely one, given President Bush's Mathematics and Science Partnerships initiative and Ehlers' plans to reintroduce his mathematics and science education bills, which narrowly missed passage in the previous session of Congress.

Our speakers were Deborah Loewenberg Ball (University of Michigan), Hyman Bass (University of Michigan and current AMS President), and Roger Howe (Yale University, and current chair of the AMS Committee on Education), who presented a dynamic and fast-paced overview of the findings and recommendations of the just-released report, addressing three questions:

• What are the core problems of mathematics education?
• What are the roots of these problems?
• What needs to be done to address these problems and attain new goals?

The audience included Congressional science and education staffers, and also representatives from the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education, and other mathematics and science professional organizations.  The speakers chose mathematical examples that were interesting, understandable, and involved audience participation. Appreciative comments were received from their non-mathematical audience about the thoughtful preparation the speakers put into this briefing.

The report is available at the National Academy Press website.