The research in Science Education program initiated by the National Science Foundation in 1987 had begun to link together people from different disciplines who were working on research in mathematics education. A joint program of the NSF and the National Institute of Education was underway that aimed at bringing researchers from cognitive science together with their colleagues in mathematics and science education. The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics was about to publish a major reference work on research in mathematics education (Shumway, 1980). A special series on research in Begle’s honor was being organized for the Fourth International Congress on Mathematics Education in Berkeley in 1980, and the number of research sections was being increased well beyond those of previous congresses (see Zweng et aL, 1983, chs. 12&13).