This book presents comprehensive results from case studies of three innovations in mathematics education that have much to offer toward understanding current reforms in this field. Each chapter tells the story of a case in rich detail, with extensive documentation, and in the voices of many of the participants-the innovators, the teachers, the students. Similarly, Volume 2 of Bold Ventures pre sents the results from case studies of five innovations in science education. Volume 1 provides a cross-case analysis of all eight innovations. Many U.S. readers certainly will be very familiar with the name of at least one if not all of the mathematics innovations discussed in this volume-for example, the NCTM Standards-and probably with their general substance. Much of the education community's familiarity with these arises from the pro jects' own dissemination efforts. The research reported in this volume, however, is one of the few detailed studies of these innovations undertaken by researchers outside the projects themselves.

A prize-winning Belgian poet explores the nature of creative endeavor—the godlike ambition, the crushing defeat of failure—through the stories of thirteen tragic architects. In thirteen fascinating chapters, Charlotte Van den Broeck goes in search of buildings that were fatal to their architects—architects who either killed themselves or are rumored to have done so. They range across time and space from a church with a twisted spire in seventeenth-century France to a theater that collapsed mid-performance in 1920s Washington, DC, and an eerily sinking swimming pool in the author’s hometown. Drawing on a vast range of material, from Hegel and Darwin to art history, stories from her own life, and popular culture, Van den Broeck brings patterns into focus as she asks, What is that strange, life-or-death connection between a creation and its creator? Threaded through each story is the author’s meditation on the question of suicide—what Albert Camus called the “one truly serious philosophical problem”—in relation to creativity and public disgrace. The result is a profoundly idiosyncratic book, breaking ground in literary nonfiction, as well as providing solace and consolation to anyone who has ever attempted a creative act.

This book presents comprehensive results from case studies of five innovations in science education that have much to offer toward understanding current reforms in this field. Each chapter tells the story of a case in rich detail, with extensive documentation, and in the voices of many of the participants-the innovators, the teachers, the students. Similarly, Volume 3 of Bold Ventures pre sents the results from case studies of five innovations in mathematics education. Volume 1 provides a cross-case analysis of all eight innovations. Many U.S. readers certainly will be very familiar with the name of at least one if not all of the science innovations discussed in this volume-for example, Project 206l-and probably with their general substance. Much of the education community's familiarity with these arises from the projects' own dissemination efforts. The research reported in this volume, however, is one of the few detailed studies of these innovations undertaken by researchers outside the projects them selves. Each of the five studies was a large-scale effort involving teams of researchers over three years. These teams analyzed many documents, attended numerous critical project meetings, visited multiple sites, conducted dozens of individual interviews. The team leaders (Atkin, Huberman, Rowe), having spent much time with science education over long careers, looked at these innovations through many lenses. It was a daunting task for each team to sift through the mountains of detail in order to bring the most compelling themes to the surface.

This book, based on detailed studies of eight innovations in mathematics and science education, has many insights to offer on current school reform. Since each innovation studied has taken its own unique approach, the set as a whole spans the spectrum from curriculum development to systemic reform, from con centrating on particular school populations to addressing all of K-12 education. Yet these reform projects share a common context, a world view on what mat ters in science and mathematics for students of the 1990s and beyond, convic tions about what constitutes effective instruction, and some notions about how school change can be brought about. These commonalities are drawn out in the book and illustrated with examples from the individual case studies that are reported in full in Bold Ventures, Volumes 2 and 3. The eight innovations-all of them projects that are well-known, at least by name, to U. S. audiences-are briefly described in chapter 1. Each was the sub ject of an in-depth, three-year case study. The research teams analyzed many documents, attended numerous project meetings, visited multiple sites, conduct ed dozens of individual interviews. The team leaders, having spent much time with mathematics or science education over long careers, looked at these reform projects through several lenses; the teams sifted through the mountains of data they had collected in order to tell the story of each project in rich detail.

This book, based on detailed studies of eight innovations in mathematics and science education, has many insights to offer on current school reform. Since each innovation studied has taken its own unique approach, the set as a whole spans the spectrum from curriculum development to systemic reform, from c- centrating on particular school populations to addressing all of K-12 education. Yet these reform projects share a common context, a world view on what m- ters in science and mathematics for students of the 1990s and beyond, conv- tions about what constitutes effective instruction, and some notions about how school change can be brought about. These commonalities are drawn out in the book and illustrated with examples from the individual case studies that are reportedin full in BoldVentures, Volumes 2 and 3. The eight innovations—all of them projects that are well-known, at least by name, to U. S. audiences—are briefly described in chapter 1. Each was the s- ject of an in-depth, three-year case study. The research teams analyzed many documents, attended numerous project meetings, visited multiple sites, condu- ed dozens of individual interviews. The team leaders, having spent much time with mathematics or science education over long careers, looked at these reform projects through several lenses; the teams sifted through the mountains of data they had collected in order to tell the story of each project in rich detail.