Current News
- Dean Ball Contributes to Released National Mathematics Panel Report
The National Mathematics Advisory Panel, convened in 2006 by President George W. Bush, released its final report on March 13, 2008. "Without substantial and sustained changes to the educational system, the United States will relinquish its leadership in the 21st century," the panel warns, calling for an immediate focus on teaching core topics and skills that provide the foundation for success in algebra and in equipping teachers with the knowledge, skills, and tools necessary for effective teaching.
The panel received testimony from more than 200 individuals and 150 organizations, and reviewed more than 16,000 research studies. Dean Ball, an expert on mathematics teaching and teacher education, was named to the panel for her insightful work on mathematical knowledge for teaching.
read the U-M press release about Ball's contributions to the report »
read the National Mathematics Panel final report (Adobe PDF) »
see more information on the National Mathematics Advisory Panel »
read Ball's comments on the report release, 03-13-08 (Adobe PDF) »
read a Washington Post article on the report »
read an Education Week article on the report »
- Dean Ball Delivers Charles W. Hunt Invited Address at the Annual Meeting of the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education on February 9
In an invited address to 1200 teacher educators and deans, Dean Deborah Loewenberg Ball urged her colleagues to work together to make the teaching of skillful practice the core of teacher education. Pointing out that skillful teaching is needed at scale if the nation is to reduce serious achievement disparities in this country, she argued that good teaching is much more intricate work than most people realize, and that it therefore requires professional training for large numbers of people to do it well. “We need a system of initial and continuing teacher education that can reliably help prepare ordinary people for effective professional practice in teaching.” In Ball’s lecture she used examples of the work going on at the School of Education to illustrate to the audience what it would mean to focus teacher education on teaching practice.
view slides from the invited address (Adobe PDF) »
(video forthcoming -- please check back soon)
- 2007 American Educational Research Association, Wallace Foundation Distinguished Lecture: What makes education research "educational"? by Deborah Loewenberg Ball and Francesca M. Forzani
Education research is plagued by skeptics who doubt its quality and relevance. Inhabitants of schools of education have been among the sharpest critics, and internal battles rage over method and rigor. Yet often lacking is research that explains causes or examines the interplay at the heart of educational practice and policy. This article argues for a conception of research in education that deliberately presses into what is called here the instructional dynamic.
read the Educational Researcher article »
- Deborah Ball: Above the math wars
Education professor and dean Deborah Ball knows the real secret for teaching kids math.
read the Michigan Today article »