ASU Math Department Good Home for Math Education Program
The national survey was conducted in early 2007 in preparation for a national conference on doctoral programs in mathematics sponsored by the Center for the Study of Mathematics Curriculum, funded by the National Science Foundation. http://www.mathcurriculumcenter.org/conferences/progress/
Led by Robert Reys of the University of Missouri, the survey team asked one representative from each of the 70 respondents to identify six particularly strong programs that they would recommend to a potential doctoral student. Forty-three institutions were nominated by 63 respondents. Only three received nominations from a majority of respondents (University of Georgia, Michigan State University and University of Michigan).
Nearly 90 percent of the doctoral programs reside in their institutions’ colleges of education. CRESMET Center Director and Mathematics Education Professor Marilyn Carlson worked with mathematics faculty such as former department chair Tom Trotter, Phil Leonard, Dennis Young, Yang Kuang and Hal Smith to establish both master’s and Ph.D. programs in math education within ASU’s Department of Mathematics & Statistics.
“They have been far-sighted, thoughtful and genuinely committed to the indispensable role mathematics departments play in preparing world class math teachers and faculty,” Dr. Carlson said of the ASU mathematicians. “It really is because of our mathematicians’ intellectual and institutional support that our math education faculty has been able to build a nationally recognized program in such a relatively short timeframe.”
Although the number of programs awarding doctorates in mathematics education has expanded in the past 40 years, the production of doctorates has lagged, according to the survey report. In 2005–2006, for example, over 40 percent of institutions of higher education that recruited new mathematics education faculty reported that they failed to fill the positions.
The report is available at http://www.ams.org/notices/200710/tx071001283p.pdf