A Vision of Learning to Teach for the 21st Century

Glenda Lappan received her Ed. D. in mathematics and education from the University of Georgia in 1965 and has since worked at Michigan State University. From 1989–91 she took leave to serve as the program director for Teacher Preparation at the National Science Foundation. From 1997–2001 she is on leave to serve as president of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). Her research and development interests are in the connected areas of students' learning of mathematics and mathematics teacher professional growth and change at the middle and secondary levels. She has published over a hundred scholarly papers and numerous books for middle grades students and teachers. She is currently the codirector of the Connected Mathematics Project II, which is funded by the National Science Foundation to revise and continue development of a complete middle school curriculum for teachers and for students. She served as the chair of the middle school writing group for the NCTM Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics (1989), and as Chair of the Commission that developed the NCTM Professional Standards for Teaching Mathematics (1991). She served on the NCTM Board of Directors from 1989 to 1992 and from 1997–2001. She has been a member of many national advisory boards, including the following: Glenn T. Seaborg Center for Teaching and Learning Science and Mathematics, the Ford Foundation/University of Pittsburgh QUASAR Project, the NSF/University of Maryland Teacher Preparation Collaborative, and the NSF/San Diego State University Mathematics for Elementary Teacher Preparation Materials Development Project.