Stay Tuned - A Preview of an Interview with Lynn Arthur Steen

Lynn Arthur Steen has graciously agreed to an online interview for MathNotations. He is Professor of Mathematics at St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota and has written numerous books and articles on the teaching and learning of mathematics at the K-14 level. His leadership roles on the national stage, professional interests and activities would require several pages but I will highlight a few of these. For further background refer to his St. Olaf bio.

In 1985, two years after publication of A Nation at Risk, Professor Steen was asked by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics to join a new Commission to oversee development of "standards" for school mathematics resulting in the publication of their famous 1989 PSSM document. At the same time he joined the Executive Committee of the new Mathematical Sciences Education Board (MSEB) at the National Academy of Sciences. This led, four years later, to his writing the seminal MSEB's "Report to the Nation on Mathematics Education" entitled Everybody Counts. This widely distributed report provided rationale and impetus to the emerging standards movement in mathematics education. This publication has had a profound effect on my career as a mathematics educator.

He is a past president of the Mathematics Association of America (MAA) and has served as chairman of the Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences. For the past 7 years, he has served as Mathematics consultant and editor to the American Diploma Project (ADP), Achieve, Inc., which has developed the standards for the new Algebra II assessment to be given next spring.

In his 'spare' time, he has focused a lot of energy on quantitative literacy (especially in an interdisciplinary sense), on the increasingly important interface of mathematics with biology, on the integrity and use of educational data (e.g., graduation rates), and, earlier, on the role of mathematics in the (sub-baccalaureate) technical work force.

Professor Steen is a prolific and talented writer of mathematics exposition and I urge you to read his Commentary, K-8 on the ADP Expectations page. This document can be downloaded from the link on the right side of this page.

I am in the process of composing a set of questions for Professor Steen. Both the questions and his replies will be printed verbatim in an upcoming post. Those who know my style should expect that my questions will be candid, direct but highly professional in nature and will reflect the concerns of my readership. Originally, my primary focus was to be on the Algebra II End of Course Assessment to be administered in the spring of 2008 to students in nine states in the consortium previously mentioned on this blog. However, I've indicated to Professor Steen that I would also appreciate his views on the current state of school mathematics in the US and his thoughts about the future direction of mathematics curriculum, instruction and assessment.