But what kind of pro-
fessional development is
necessary to help teachers
make significant change in their mathematics
teaching? Should mathematicians be involved in
these efforts? What role can they play? This ar-
ticle describes one attempt to answer these ques-
tions, a project in mathematics education that
involved a two-year partnership between the
mathematics department at the University of
Utah and Washington Elementary School, a K–6,
inner-city school in the Salt Lake City School
District. The project, called Elementary Math
-
ematics Through Teacher Partnerships (EMTTP),
provided an opportunity for mathematicians,
mathematics educators, and elementary school
teachers to share their understandings about
mathematics content and pedagogy. We are writ
-
ing this article for several reasons. Members of
the AMS are being called on to play a greater role
in mathematics education efforts at the precol
-
lege level [1]. The work in the EMTTP project is
an example of how mathematicians and school
teachers can work together to improve the math
-
ematics culture in an elementary school. We
hope our experiences will provide useful infor
-
mation for those members of the AMS who are
involved in or are contemplating similar activi
-
ties. Finally, we believe that it is in partnerships
that foster an exchange of ideas across the con
-
tinuum of mathematics teaching that we see the
hope of improving mathematics education at
all levels.