"This book is the outcome of an effort to create a dialogue about mathematics education that included mathematicians with a wide variety of views. In a conference held at the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute in Berkeley in 1996, more than one hundred mathematics instructors, all dedicated to effective mathematics teaching, engaged in meaningful and sometimes spirited discussions about how mathematics can and should be taught. The conference consisted of formal presentations, question and answer sessions, and informal working groups. This volume contains reports and position papers stemming from all these activities."--Jacket.