This article examines the Korean classroom teachers’ beliefs about mathematics
education in elementary schools. Their perceptions about contributing factors to Korean
students’ high achievement scores in international comparative studies in the area of
mathematics are explored. Elementary classroom teachers were surveyed using the researchermade
questionnaire (Teacher Perception about Mathematics Curriculum) and 141 teachers
completed the questionnaire. The data collected was analyzed by a descriptive analysis. The
results reveal that the majority of classroom teachers agreed that real life applications, processing
skills, using concrete instructional manipulatives, and conceptual knowledge are very important
in teaching children mathematics. Most of teachers participating in this study were aware of the
fact that Korean students ranked in the top percentile in the international comparative students’
mathematics achievement studies. The teachers claimed that Korean students still heavily focus
on practice and drill computational skills, private lessons at the after school program and parents’
high expectation of their child’s education, and active involvement in his/her education
generated the high scores in mathematics.